Final Dolphins injury report. And Phillips’ rise, Holland’s usage and personnel notes
The Dolphins listed three key starters as questionable and two others as doubtful for Sunday’s home game against Green Bay (1 p.m, Fox).
Receiver River Cracraft and offensive tackle Eric Fisher are doubtful with calf injuries.
Starting edge rushers Jaelan Phillips (toe) and Bradley Chubb (knee) were listed as questionable with injuries that limited their practice participation this week. Both seemed to be walking fine in the locker room, without any visible discomfort.
Left tackle Terron Armstead (toe, knee, pectoral injury) is listed as questionable but is expected to continue to play with his injuries.
Also listed as questionable: Running back Jeff Wilson Jr. He missed the Buffalo game with a hip injury, said the injury has improved but added that the decision on whether he plays could go either way and would be made Saturday.
Safety Eric Rowe (hamstring) and running back Myles Gaskin (illness) also are questionable. Rowe was limited Friday and Gaskin missed practice.
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is off the injury report and will back up Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday.
Dolphins undrafted rookie receiver Braylon Sanders is eligible for one more elevation from the practice squad and could be used again in Cracraft’s place.
PHILLIPS RISING
Phillips continues his ascent in his second season in the league. He’s only the second Dolphins player (with AJ Duhe) to produce at least seven sacks in his first two seasons.
Phillips has risen to seventh among PFF’s 122 qualifying edge rushers; he’s much improved against the run and is top 10 in the league in quarterback pressures among edge players.
Phillips cracked before the season that he wasn’t a fan of Pro Football Focus because it rated him poorly last season — 93rd of 113 qualifying edge players.
That was primarily because of his run defense, which the website rated 102nd. But Phillips’ run defense is much improved; PFF rates him 17th among 122 edge players as a run defender.
How has he improved against the run? He cited improved technique and hand placement.
“Mindset is a big one,” he said. “Playing the run is a tedious thing. It’s hard in the trenches.”
Phillips has seven sacks (tied for 27th in the league), but only five players have more quarterback pressures than his 39. His strip sack of Josh Allen last Saturday was the Dolphins’ signature defensive play of the game.
His improvement against the run - and continued growth as a pass rusher - explain why he’s playing 71 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps compared with 54 last season.
“I’ve improved as an all around every down player, being able to come in first, second, third and be stout on the edge and do my job within the defense,” he said.
“Last year, I was in that role of pretty much solely third down, playing around 50 percent of the snaps or so. I’ve been happy with the ability [to play more] and the coaches trusting me to take on more snaps and more responsibilities.”
Has the attention he’s getting from opponents changed with Chubb on the team?
“I honestly can’t tell,” he said recently. “I know Bradley is getting a lot of chips. We have a bunch of talented guys who can rush. It makes it hard who you are going to pick and choose to double team. I will be interested to see what it looks like the rest of the season.”
Here’s what stands out to Chubb about Phillips after six games playing together:
“He’s relentless,” Chubb said. “Just relentless. He’s got all the physical traits. Everything physical you could think of, he has and the thing that separates him is how he runs to the ball 30 yards down the field and how he reacts just to the different adversity that goes throughout the game and he never wavers. Always the same player, always the same guy so that’s what’s going to make him great.”
THIS AND THAT
With Liam Eichenberg potentially poised to return to the lineup, Robert Jones seemed at peace with heading back to the bench after six solid games at left guard.
“Me learning how the NFL works, you don’t lose your job to injury,” Jones said of why he’s fine with Eichenberg going back in the lineup, if it plays out that way.
Of his own play, Jones said: “Did some good things. Always some things I can do better at it.”
Eichenberg has missed the past six games with a knee injury. Coaches have said he was playing very well at the time of his injury Oct. 30 at Detroit.
▪ The Dolphins have blitzed Jevon Holland only 29 times, compared with 65 last season.
And with Brandon Jones out for the season and the Dolphins playing backup safeties alongside Holland, it seems the Dolphins seem more comfortable playing Holland in coverage than blitzing him much.
“He’s a good blitzer,” special teams coach Steve Gregory said. “It’s not something we shy away from [but] we’re calculated in picking and choosing our spots. He’s an athletic, big safety than can cover guys.”
▪ Fullback Alec Ingold mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Mike McDaniel “points out what he does wrong first” if he believes he could have done something better. “It’s awesome,” Ingold said. “He sets the standard.”
If McDaniel second guessed himself on any of the third and short passes against Buffalo, he wasn’t sharing that. That decision wasn’t anything he expressed regret about to the team, one other player (not Ingold) said. McDaniel has indicated that the defensive looks that the Dolphins got on those plays made a pass the better way to go.
The Dolphins were 0 for 5 when passing on third and short, 1 for 1 when running on third and short against Buffalo.
▪ For $2500 apiece, fans can throw a touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill on May 14 and have it photographed and signed. The price also includes a guest, a barbecue meal and other enticements.
The South Florida venue to be used is undetermined; last year, organizers used the Marlins’ stadium for a similar event. Here’s more information.
Proceeds benefit 10 nonprofit organizations, according to the organizers.
This story was originally published December 23, 2022 at 4:26 PM.
