Will the Dolphins’ bad injury luck ever end? The latest on two more hurt key guys
The Dolphins are running out of recognizable faces.
The latest to go down: receivers Jakeem Grant, who suffered what appeared to be a significant ankle injury during a first-half kick return, and Albert Wilson, whose rib injury knocked him from the game in the second half.
The Dolphins had to finish Sunday’s loss to the Brownswith just two wide receivers: Allen Hurns and DeVante Parker.
“I thought we had some challenges in the second half, not just with the score and the defense but offensively, with our personnel,” Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “Guys stepped up and did a nice job of being in the right spot and doing the right thing.”
Grant, who missed the last six games of the 2018 season with a calf injury, limped off the field before being carted into the locker room for further evaluation. The Dolphins’ medical staff later determined he suffered no broken bones, but Grant did leave the stadium in a walking boot.
Before the injury, Grant was just starting to find his stride. He returned a kickoff for a touchdown last week and also scored one on the ground, beginning to justify the four-year, $19.7 million contract he signed during training camp. With Grant out, the Dolphins used defensive back Marcus Sherels as both their kick and punt returner.
The Dolphins already have $42 million of their cap on injury reserve, and could add to it this week. Reshad Jones, Bobby McCain and Xavien Howard are all done for the year, and we may never see Aqib Talib in a Dolphins uniform. Talib, acquired via trade as a creative way for the Dolphins to buy a draft pick, is on IR with no possibility to return.
Line change
The Dolphins’ offensive line carousel continues to spin.
They started Shaq Calhoun over Evan Boehm Sunday, giving the Dolphins their eighth different offensive line combination in the season’s first 11 games. Julien Davenport got the start at left tackle for the second straight week.
The Dolphins told Calhoun on Wednesday he’d be starting, while Davenport got the news Saturday.
Calhoun played for the first time in four weeks after starting two games in October. Dolphins coach Brian Flores said the undrafted lineman had hit the rookie wall and needed some rest.
“Just had to keep my head down and keep working, knowing what was ahead of me,” Calhoun said. “If I want to make it in this league, just take it day by day. Put my head down and keep working. It’s just an accumulation of going for so long. Training camp and then you’ve got four preseason games, then you get in the season, do the same thing over and over. It can get to your head a little bit.”
The Dolphins allowed four sacks and their running backs managed just 43 yards on 14 carries Sunday.
Odds and ends
▪ Nik Needham’s rough day included a bit of history. He got a bit too handsy with Odell Beckham Jr. on an incomplete throw to the end zone late in the first half. While no pass inference was called in the moment, officials stopped play for a look and determined a flag should have been called. One play after the assessed penalty, the Browns scored their fourth touchdown of the first half.
Flores later lost a challenge on an uncalled, and ultimately upheld, offensive pass interference he believed was committed by Jarvis Landry on a deep catch.
▪ With Adrian Colbert, Andrew Van Ginkel and Gerald Willis all making their Dolphins debut Sunday, they became the 69th, 70th and 71st different Dolphins player to see the field in 2019.
▪ The word’s out on gamblin’ Brian Flores. After repeatedly trying fake field goals, punts and onsides kicks, the Dolphins have lost the element of surprise. So when Patrick Laird took a direct snap on a first-half punt formation, the Browns were ready and stopped Laird short of the first-down line.
▪ A feel-good moment in a largely dreary game for the Dolphins: When Ryan Fitzpatrick, on his 37th birthday, connected with tight end on an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second half. For Gesicki, the touchdown was the first of his 27-game NFL career and came on his 81st target as a pro.
