Dolphins again missing top player. And encouraging development from second-year picks
The Miami Dolphins on Sunday again appear likely to be without cornerback Byron Jones for a second consecutive game. And the timing isn’t good, with the league’s hottest quarterback coming to town.
Coach Brian Flores said Jones will be listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game against Seattle (1 p.m., Fox) because of a groin injury. Jones, the team’s highest-paid player, worked on an exercise bicycle the past two days but apparently isn’t ready to play.
That means Miami will be without one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks against a Seattle passing attack featuring quarterback Russell Wilson (who has 14 touchdown passes and one interception and a 76.7 completion percentage) and receiver D.K. Metcalf (12 catches for 297 yards and three touchdowns).
Jones’ injury leaves Miami with four healthy cornerbacks on its 53-man roster: Xavien Howard, Noah Igbinoghene, Jamal Perry and Nik Needham. There’s a good chance Miami could again elevate Tae Hayes from its practice squad, though Flores was non-committal about that.
A new NFL rule for 2020 allows a team to promote two players from its practice squad to the active roster each week without cutting a player from the 53-man roster. The Dolphins can do that twice with any particular player; they did it with Hayes for the first time last week.
Meanwhile, backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa returned to practice (on a limited basis) after missing two practices with an undisclosed illness that is not related to COVID-19. Flores said he will be listed as questionable. The Dolphins are optimistic he will be available.
And a new issue surfaced on Friday’s injury report: right guard Solomon Kindley has been bothered occasionally by foot discomfort in recent weeks and it flared up again late this week; he was listed as being limited in practice on Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.
According to a source, an MRI conducted Thursday revealed no structural damage and Kindley expects to play on Sunday. Kindley has impressed as a fourth-round rookie starter and hasn’t allowed a sack in three games.
Guard/center Michael Deiter, tackle/guard Robert Hunt and tackles Julien Davanport or Adam Pankey could be used if Kindley cannot play.
Safety Kavon Frazier is listed as doubtful with a shoulder injury that limited him in practice every day this week. But safety Clayton Fejedelem, who missed the first three games with a pectoral injury, is now healthy and able to play Sunday. Fejedelem could be Miami’s No. 4 safety on Sunday behind Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe and Brandon Jones.
Meanwhile, Seattle will be without Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams. Like Jones, he also has a groin injury.
SECOND-YEAR IMPROVEMENT
Every team’s hope would be to see a performance jump in players from their first season to their second.
The Dolphins are witnessing that with running back Myles Gaskin, defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel - and to an extent, fullback Chandler Cox - and those stand among the positives amid a 1-2 start.
As the Dolphins’ final draft pick in 2019, Gaskin’s remarkable rise from an on-the-bubble seventh-rounder to a productive lead back (4.0 per carry this season and 15 catches for 91 yards) has been well-chronicled.
But the Dolphins first pick in 2019, Christian Wilkins, also has improved significantly, according to metrics site Pro Football Focus.
Wilkins has 11 tackles, including one for loss, and two passes defended. PFF ranks him 23rd among all interior defenders this season. Last season, PFF ranked him 74th.
“He’s definitely improved really from the day he got here through his rookie year and he’s continuing to improve,” Flores said. “I’m really happy with that improvement. He just needs to continue to do the things that he’s been doing.
“Having played a full season, he’s much more comfortable with the system and how we want to do things, and he understands what type of players he’s going to see on a weekly basis. I know he works in a way that gives him an opportunity to improve and we’re happy with him.”
Defensive line coach Marion Hobby said even though Wilkins “didn’t get all the splash plays that he had in the New England game, I think he played well in the last two. Flo said it the best: Sometimes you don’t make the splash plays and you still have a good game.We’ve been pleased with the way he’s played.”
Van Ginkel, who has 1.5 sacks so far this season, “put an emphasis this offseason on getting stronger,” outside linebackers coach Austin Clark said, adding he likes “the way he uses speed, uses some of his finesse moves, uses his counters and then he mixed in a power move there late [against Jacksonville] and it paid dividends for him.”
Linebackers coach Anthony Campanile said Van Ginkel is a “worker bee, always trying to do extra. He has some really good length and he’s got toughness.”
Cox, meanwhile, already has played 41 snaps, compared to 66 last year, and the team sees growth in his blocking.
“Has made a lot of improvement as well from that first to second year,” Flores said. “He’s tough, smart, competitive. He’s taking on ends, taking on big linebackers.”
Among the other members of the 2019 draft class, Michael Deiter -- the 2019 starter at left guard -- is now the backup center and hasn’t played an offensive snap this season. Sixth-round pick Isaiah Prince, the offensive tackle from Ohio State, was released last season and now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals.
THIS AND THAT
▪ Receiver Preston Williams, on what he has determined about rookie cornerback Noah Igbinoghene after competing against him in practice: “He’s got all of the tangibles to be a great corner in this league one day. He’s young right now. He’s still learning. He’s real patient – for a rookie corner, really patient. He’s going to get his hands on you. He’s very physical, and I like that. He’s going to be a great ballplayer in the years to come.”
▪ Linebacker Jerome Baker, who has played all but 14 defensive snaps this season, said it’s more tiring to leave the game than to stay in. “It drains your energy more to run off the field then run back on,” he said. “You really don’t get any water. You just pretty much run off the field for nothing.”
▪ Defensive line coach Marion Hobby does something interesting: He sometimes asks players to grade their own performance in games before the Dolphins grade them. Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah weren’t pleased with their work in the opener and have played better since.
▪ Fox is sending Sunday’s game to 12 percent of the country, with Dick Stockton and Brady Quinn on the call. But of the 28 markets getting the game, only three are in Florida: Miami-Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Naples-Fort Myers.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 12:53 PM.
