Two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Bradley Chubb will return to practice this week
The Miami Dolphins have a serious need at edge rusher.
Late 2023 season injuries to Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips led to the signing of Shaq Barrett in the 2024 offseason. Barrett’s impromptu retirement before training camp, however, led to return of Emmanuel Ogbah. Another injury to Phillips near the start of the 2024 season, however, led to an edge rusher room that was composed of Ogbah, two rookies, a NFL journeyman and a player who hasn’t played a full season since 2021.
Well, have no fear: reinforcements are here. Chubb and Cameron Goode will return to practice this week, per coach Mike McDaniel, marking the first time the pair of edge rushers have practiced since injuries cut their 2023 season short.
“They’ll be out there practicing on Wednesday and to me,” McDaniel said Monday, “they are very impactful just to have them on the practice field. That’s never lost on teammates when you have an extensive injury that happens in-season so then you are finishing the season rehabbing.”
A midseason trade sent Chubb to the Dolphins in 2022. He and Phillips were primed to be one of brightest edge rusher pair, however, injuries cut both players’ 2023 season short. Phillips sustained a torn Achilles in a Black Friday game against the New York Jets while Chubb tore his ACL in the waning moments of a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens roughly a month later. Phillips returned from injury in training camp but suffered a torn ACL in Week 4 of 2024.
Chubb was in the midst of one of the most productive seasons of his career in 2023. He totaled a career-highs in forced fumbles (six), combined tackles (73) and QB hits (22). For his career, Chubb has 13 forced fumbles, 39.5 sacks and more than 250 combined tackles.
Goode ruptured his patella tendon in a Week 18 matchup against the Buffalo Bills and has been out ever since. Primarily a special teams player, the 2022 seventh-round pick accumulated six combined tackles in 2023.
“I know those two won’t take any practice rep for granted and I think that just in general is an added lift regardless of what happens between the lines on whatever Sunday,” McDaniel said.
Chubb’s return will could have an even greater effect on Chop Robinson’s development. The rookie edge rusher considers Chubb one of his greatest inspirations, and while the seven-year veteran has certainly helped Robinson, there’s nothing like learning side-by-side.
“We talk basically every day about something that I could do better since I first got in here,” Robinson said Nov. 8. “He put me under his wing, him, [Jaelan Phillips], [Terron] Armstead, they’re just guys that see something in me. I’m just listening to the guys who have been in the game for a long time, who’ve been doing it good, so I’m just learning from the best.”
“There’s been a collective effort in trying to impart as much wisdom in a very short, short period of time with this kid,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said of Chubb and others’ contributions to Robinson. “And to his credit, he’s just taking it all in and he’s going out and attacking that on the football field and I think you’re starting to see the residuals of all that now.”
At 5-7, the Dolphins will likely need to win out in order to make the playoffs. Such a feat is possible: the Dolphins have the fifth easiest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon, a website that measures draft order across sports leagues. With Chubb in particular back in the lineup, there’s hope that he could help spark the Dolphins’ trip to the postseason.
