Miami Dolphins cut two veterans and move toward decision on right side of offensive line
The Miami Dolphins thinned their wide receiver room Tuesday, releasing veterans Chester Rogers and Ricardo Louis, according to a league source.
That leaves Isaiah Ford and Mack Hollins the favorites for the final two receiver jobs behind DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant and rookie Malcolm Perry.
Parker and Grant have missed the past week with an injury; a team source said neither has a serious injury, and the expectation is both will be ready for the Sept. 13 opener at New England.
Rogers was the Colts’ primary slot receiver the past two seasons. Louis has now been released twice by the Dolphins without ever appearing in a game for them.
Rogers and Louis were signed recently when Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns opted out of playing this season. Louis missed the 2018 season with a neck injury when he played for the Cleveland Browns and missed the 2019 season (his first and only season with the Dolphins) with a knee injury.
Gary Jennings, who has not made much impact in this camp, and rookies Matt Cole and Kirk Merritt are candidates for the practice squad.
Also released on Tuesday: safety Jeremiah Dinson, defensive end Avery Moss and cornerback Deatrick Nichols. Miami is now down to 75 players (once the Dolphins announce the releases of Kalen Ballage and Rogers) and needs to release 22 more players by 4 p.m. Saturday. Miami can then sign a 16-man practice squad.
LINE CLARITY
In a perfect world, Jesse Davis hoped to know by late April whether he would be playing right guard or right tackle this season. Davis believes he now has his answer, though he’s not entirely sure.
Davis said Tuesday that he has spent most of his time recently at right tackle, the position he started at most of last season.
Using Davis at right guard was an option that the Dolphins considered this season if they believed that Robert Hunt, the rookie second-round pick, was Miami’s best option at right tackle.
But based on Davis’ comments, it appears they have decided to leave Davis at right tackle and have Hunt compete at guard.
“Right now I’ve had my most reps recently at right tackle, so for me moving forward, that’s where I’d like to play,” Davis said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter, like it always has been. If they want me to play left side in the future, then I can do that as well.”
That means that rookies Solomon Kindley and Hunt are competing to start at right guard.
“They’re big guys that can move people,” Davis said of Kindley and Hunt. “They’re smart. They’re very coachable people.”
Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras almost assuredly will start at left guard and center, respectively.
Rookie Austin Jackson entered the week as the perceived front-runner for the starting left tackle job, with Julien Davenport offering competition....
Davis, on rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa: “He’s been good. Every week he is more vocal, more confidence in him, which is kind of the thing that goes about with rookie quarterbacks; but he’s been really good. It’s fun to see him out there playing and throwing that deep ball. He can actually get it out there and what he’s been doing and what ‘Fitz’ [Ryan Fitzpatrick] has been doing helping him along and everybody else – little things here and there – but he’s been really good.”
Here’s my breakdown of the battle for roster spots at each position.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 2:14 PM.
