Dolphins’ McDaniel updates Tua, offensive line and cornerback situation and more
The Dolphins’ situation at cornerback remains precarious.
A day after the team lost Nik Needham to a season-ending Achilles injury, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that Byron Jones - who has been on the physically unable to perform list - is not yet ready to practice.
Asked if it’s certain that he will even play this season, McDaniel said: “It’s a big deal to put on the field a cornerback who is trying to perform at a high level with a lower body extremity issue. We have been judicious with it. I don’t think we’re going to see him practice this week. It’s hard to know fully when that will happen.”
Jones had surgery in his Achilles/ankle injury in March and was originally expected to be cleared for training camp. But he hasn’t practiced in training camp or the regular season.
As for cornerback Keion Crossen, he has a knee injury and his status is in question for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh (8:20 p.m., NBC).
“It’s hard to nail down with a timeline because he’s one of the fastest healers,” McDaniel said. “We will re-assess midweek.”
Kader Kohou missed Sunday’s game with an oblique injury.
And Needham is headed to injured reserve, McDaniel said.
Besides Xavien Howard, the only other healthy natural cornerbacks on the roster are Noah Igbinoghene and special teams ace Justin Bethel. Safeties Elijah Campbell and Eric Rowe also can play cornerback.
Brandon Jones said: “Byron has been around. He’s like a teacher, when we’re watching film, putting his input in and asking questions. His injury is what it is; he’s definitely making strides to potentially come back.”
On the Tua Tagovailoa front, McDaniel said he will practice fully Wednesday and “approach the game as the starter,” after clearing concussion protocol on Saturday. Fox reported during Sunday’s broadcast that the Dolphins indicated Tagovailoa will start against Pittsburgh, and that’s expected.
It’s “his first week of practice since before the Bills game” in Week 2, McDaniel said. “Last week was a big week to get through the protocols and specialists and get him back moving around. He responded real well. We’ll be excited to see him practice on Wednesday. He’s a very good player at that position.”
McDaniel said: “I don’t anticipate rust from a mechanics standpoint. He’s the same guy. He didn’t start throwing right-handed. Getting used to the whole process, there’s a little rust in that.”
Does Tagovailoa need to be more mindful of avoiding head injuries?
“There are risks in this game,” McDaniel said. “You love his competitive nature, but there’s a time in a play where you have to concede and that’s where he’s kind of been focusing on. It’s something that’s not natural to him. He wants to break every tackle. He doesn’t like when plays don’t work. Sometimes they don’t. It’s something he’s mindful of.”
McDaniel noted some of the league’s great quarterbacks “find ways to be available and part of that is that concession. Sometimes the best play you can make is a throw away.”
McDaniel also offered an update on starting tackles Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson, were were sidelined on Sunday.
McDaniel said he feels “good where Armstead got without playing in the [Vikings] game. He will be day to day. He really wants to be out there. It was a step in the right direction for him not to play.”
With Austin Jackson - who has missed five weeks and remains on injured reserve - McDaniel said: “When you think about a high ankle sprain or low ankle sprain, that for an offensive lineman is a tough injury. You can feel better but now you have to go lean on a 300 pound individual and need to displace him. He didn’t have any setbacks, so I feel good about that.”
McDaniel addressed other issues during his Monday press briefing:
▪ On Jaylen Waddle being very upset with himself after the fumble: “It’s good that you’re mad. He’s a young player that is going to have a wonderful career. I used the opportunity to try to give him a picture and vision of growth moving forward because things will happen that you don’t want to happen. He was trying to score when he let the ball be a little loose. It’s coming from the right place.”
▪ On owner Stephen Ross, who’s coming off NFL suspension on Tuesday: “I’m excited to talk to him. I haven’t talked to him in a long time. This particular team, the players really appreciate him because he allows myself, Chris [Grier], everyone else to do whatever is necessary to produce a winner. He gives us all the resources possible. We all very much appreciate him.”
▪ McDaniel said Skylar Thompson’s status is unclear after the injury to his throwing hand forced him to leave Sunday’s game:
“He’s in the whole bucket of what our whole team seems to be - day to day.”
THIS AND THAT
The Dolphins released running back ZaQuandre White from their practice squad.
▪ Brandon Jones, on seeing Steelers linebackers coach Brian Flores, who was dismissed by the team in January and filed a lawsuit against the Dolphins three weeks later: “It’s exciting to be able to see him in person. Haven’t talked to him for a while. I know he’s been helping out their defense a lot from what I’ve been seeing. It will be cool to see him.”
Christian Wilkins said only: “Business as usual. Obviously, there’s history with Flo.”
Here are my two other Dolphins pieces with lots of news on Monday - this one and this one.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 5:33 PM.
