Miami Dolphins lose rookie left tackle for extended period, also without 2 others Sunday
A 10-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Friday:
▪ Dolphins rookie left tackle Austin Jackson is expected to miss an extended period with a foot injury, and Brian Flores was non-committal if he will return this season.
Flores said the team is “looking for a long-term replacement” for Jackson, who went on injured reserve on Friday, “and we’re trying to work a few combinations with that in mind.”
“I don’t like putting timetables on injuries,” Flores said. “He’s a tough kid, hard working kid. With the IR rules changing this year, we can bring a player back as early as three weeks. I don’t want to put a timetable on this one. We’ll see. Injuries, they’re tough to sit here and say, it’s going be this, it’s going to be that, it’s going to be six weeks, it’s going to be 12 weeks. Let’s take it one day at a time. I think he will do everything he can to get back as quickly as he can.”
Flores said Julien Davenport is “definitely in mix” at left tackle but would not definitively say if he would start Sunday at San Francisco.
“We worked a number of different combinations this week and we’ll put out the best five, the group we think is our best five offensive linemen,” Flores said. “I’ve got to watch [Friday’s practice film] before we make that determination. Julien played well last week. We’re confident in Julien, confident in Jesse Davis, confident in Rob Hunt, confident in [guard and center Michael Deiter], confident in Adam Pankey as well.”
One source said the Dolphins have been considering a scenario where Hunt would play right tackle and Jesse Davis left tackle. But if there were odds on such things, Davenport starting would have the shortest odds because he played well in 25 snaps at left tackle against Seattle after Jackson’s injury.
The loss of Jackson is a huge blow; the No. 18 overall pick hadn’t allowed a sack in four games.
“Austin has had a great start to this season,” offensive line coach Steve Marshall said Tuesday. “He’s learning every time he’s going out there. I’m very excited for his future. He can be a heck of a pro offensive left tackle.”
Davenport had allowed 18 sacks in his past 26 games for the Dolphins and Texans before playing well and not relinquishing a sack in the Seattle game.
“He’s a smart guy — very intellectual guy and has really worked hard to improve on some of the things we talked about in the offseason,” Marshall said.
Davenport said he’s “definitely a lot better” than the player who arrived from Houston in the Laremy Tunsil trade 14 months ago. “I feel a lot more confident in my technique, my sets, my pad level,” he said.
Flores confirmed my report here that the Dolphins promoted rookie running back Salvon Ahmed from their practice squad to the 53-man roster earlier Friday.
▪ Flores said that linebacker Shaq Lawson (shoulder) and tight end Durham Smythe (knee) will not play on Sunday and receiver Jakeem Grant is questionable with an illness not related to COVID-19.
Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel could play more in Lawson’s absence, and tight end Adam Shaheen figures to play more as well on Sunday, behind Mike Gesicki.
The Dolphins are expected to get cornerback Byron Jones back on Sunday; he missed the past two games with a groin injury.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s injured ankle held up well in practice and he will start against Miami.
▪ Matt Breida’s carries per game have plunged from 8.5 in his career to 4.5 in his first year as a Dolphin, but he hasn’t complained publicly or privately, which is smart.
“I think everyone knows what I can do,” Breida said this week. “Whatever my role is, I’m going to do. I’m going to be happy no matter what. I’m very fortunate and very lucky to play in the NFL, so I’m not a ball guy. I’m not someone who’s selfish.”
He returns to the Bay Area to play his former team on Sunday. Why did San Francisco trade him?
“I love Breida; one of my favorite guys I’ve been around, hell of a player, but we had an abundance of guys there,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said this week when I asked why they dealt Breida to Miami in April for a fifth-rounder.
Breida said “it’s cool going back playing against my former team. I’m not going to treat the week any different, though. They’re a great organization, too, but I always like new challenges.”
What’s clear through four games is this: Breida is Miami’s No. 2 back, behind Myles Gaskin, and could rise to No. 1 if he outplays Gaskin in the coming weeks. Jordan Howard’s role is largely limited to goal-line and short yardage situations.
“Breida’s been great,” Flores told Bay Area reporters in the weekly coach’s conference call with visiting writers. “He’s obviously fast and explosive, but he’s a hard-working kid. He’s tough. He competes. We’ve been very happy with him.”
▪ Kamu Grugier-Hill is the only Dolphins linebacker with decent numbers in pass coverage.
“For me, that’s a part of the game that I really pride myself on,” he said. “Especially with my role right now, it’s kind of the coverage guy and coverage downs.”
Flores said playing time changes were considered this week. One that would make sense: Playing Grugier-Hill more.
▪ Even though second-rounder Robert Hunt failed to win a starting job on the offensive line, Marshall made clear this week that the franchise believes he has a bright future. The Dolphins use him a few times a game in a six-offensive-lineman front.
“He’s in there because he’s a big, strong man, and he has done a great job,” Marshall said. “I think the sky’s the limit for the guy.”
▪ Marshall said left guard Ereck Flowers “has played very well his first four games, exceeded expectations.”
Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said Flowers “is a calming influence on the line for us.”
And Flores said of Flowers: “I notice his energy on the field really every week. You guys probably don’t see that, but if there’s a big catch or there’s a big run, he’s really the first guy down there celebrating with his teammates and I think that energy is infectious and it’s something I’ve highlighted in team meetings already.”
▪ Something rare happened against Seattle: Smythe, known primarily for his blocking, caught more passes (two) than Mike Gesicki (one).
“Durham is really fluid at catching the football,” tight ends coach George Godsey said. “He does a good job on normal downs blocking for us.”
But Smythe is out Sunday.
▪ Quarterbacks coach Robby Brown said he appreciates that Hall of Fame quarterback and Dolphins special advisor Dan Marino has made himself available to help - which is consistent with Marino’s approach in his seven years working in Miami’s front office.
“When I first got here, there wasn’t hardly anybody in the office,” Brown said. “I had just gotten hired, and somebody knocked on my door. You know when somebody knocks on your door, you don’t expect to turn around and it be a Hall of Famer sitting there you know, because I was looking at my computer.
“So I turned around and it was Dan and he sat down, talked with me, talked about who my family was, that kind of stuff and just said, ‘Hey man, I’m here if you have any questions.’ He has sat in on some of our meetings and does, and he’s always a great resource to have around.”
▪ Here’s how Flores answered the when-are-you-playing-Tua Tagovailoa question with Bay Area reporters:
“His development is the most important thing to us. He’s doing a good job from that standpoint — learning the offense, learning how to be a professional. He’s practicing well. He’s practiced well I would say for the last — since training camp, I would say.
“That’s where we’re at as far as his development is concerned. When he’s ready to play, we’ll put him in there. Right now we feel like Fitz gives us the best chance to go out to California, compete and try to win a ballgame. That’s kind of our thought process right now; but Tua and the rest of the rookie class, they’re all gaining experience on a week-to-week basis – Tua obviously in practice. Some of these other guys are getting some game reps. But with any rookie, there’s some patience involved here, and I think that’s the case with Tua. When his time comes, I’m sure he’ll be ready.”
▪ On Sunday, we’ll hear someone on Fox who has never called a Dolphins game before: Adam Amin, who was a good offseason hire from ESPN, where he handled college football and basketball. Amin and Mark Schlereth call the game, which will be seen in 18 percent of the nation.
Amin, who’s also the TV voice of the Chicago Bulls, called two Marlins-Braves games on FS-1 this week. “These are the weeks that I have come to enjoy the most,” he said of calling multiple events. “I truly enjoy this job and I hope it sounds that way when we hit the air.”
He said FAU radio voice Ken LaVicka “convinced me to try broadcasting at Valparaiso University in Indiana. That set me on this course that led to a career.”
Why did he leave ESPN?
“Appropriately enough, it’s weeks like this,” he said. “When the opportunity to come to Fox and work on these projects with really great people, at this point in my life and career, it was too good of a fit to pass up.”
Here’s my Friday media column with extended conversations with ABC lead NBA announcer Mike Breen and ABC lead college football announcer Chris Fowler about the Heat, Hurricanes and more.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 12:55 PM.
