Dolphins right tackle Austin Jackson returns to practice after lower leg injury

The longest-tenured Miami Dolphins offensive lineman is back.

Austin Jackson returned to practice Wednesday, a good sign for the Dolphins offensive line.

This comes after the starting right tackle missed nearly a month due to a lower left leg injury after being “stepped on,” per Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.

“He got stepped on,” McDaniel said Aug. 7, adding that it’s not related to the knee injury that cost him the second half of the 2024 season. Jackson’s “timetable doesn’t seem to be into the regular season.”

That same day, the NFL Network reported that he will miss “weeks” yet be ready for the Dolphins’ season opener vs. the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 7.

Jackson’s return will strengthen an offensive line that struggled in the preseason — and the second half of 2024, for that matter — during his absence.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM.

C. Isaiah Smalls II

Miami Herald

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C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.