Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses several injuries in the secondary, other issues
Dolphins cornerback Storm Duck sustained a season-ending knee injury in Sunday’s 34-10 win against Atlanta, but safety Minkah Fitzpatrick - who sustained a finger injury late in the game - should be fine for Thursday’s home game against Baltimore (8:20 p.m., Amazon Prime, CBS 4).
Four Dolphins defensive backs were injured in Sunday’s game: Duck, Fitzpatrick, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Ashtyn Davis.
Fitzpatrick would have been able to return if the score hadn’t been lopsided, McDaniel said.
Melifonwu returned after sustaining a hand injury and should be fine for Thursday.
Davis left in the first quarter with a quadriceps injury and his status for Thursday’s game is dubious.
Short week “is what’s in question for him,” McDaniel said of Davis. “In short weeks, I operate pessimisticly.”
Receiver Dee Eskridge, who left with a shoulder injury, is in the same boat as Davis, “day to day,” as McDaniel put it.
With Duck out for the season, cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. might return off injured reserve this week. The Dolphins have 16 days to activate him. If the Dolphins want to give Marshall more time before coming off IR, they could make Juju Brents active for the game; he was inactive Sunday.
The knee injury marks an unfortunate end to Duck’s second season. He started the opener against the Colts but sustained an ankle injury during the game and didn’t play again until Sunday’s game. He received 15 defensive snaps, in a rotation with Jack Jones on Sunday, before he was carted off with the knee injury.
McDaniel addressed other issues on Monday:
▪ Offensive linemen James Daniels, Austin Jackson and Andrew Meyer and kicker Jason Sanders will not be coming off injured reserve this week. None has begun their 21-day practice window. McDaniel has said that all are expected back this season.
▪ Tua Tagovailoa’s eye wasn’t an issue on Monday; he played with a visor on Sunday after waking up with a swollen eye and threw four touchdowns and no interceptions against Atlanta.
“There are medicines delivered by people responsible for that,” McDaniel said.
▪ All three Dolphins running backs (De’Von Achane, Ollie Gordon II and Jaylen Wright) had at least nine carries on Sunday. What’s the upshot of that?
“It’s underrated,” McDaniel said of defenders needing to tackle players with different physiques.
“A change up in body makeup and size, a different target, a different speed, a different tackle, in combination with the player with the ball in his hands being as fresh as you can possibly be,” McDaniel said. “You get a lot of bang for your buck if you’re able to distribute the ball among all of your eligibles. You are able to have everyone get a taste and different momentum.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 2:23 PM.
