You won’t find many teams around the NFL that are healthy at this point in the season. Injuries to key players have affected just about every team, and the ailments are coming at the worst possible time for some rosters. One of the teams that has been hit the hardest has been the Miami Dolphins, who will quite literally be limping into their playoff matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs this coming weekend.
Dolphins Hit With Yet More Bad Injury News
Jerome Baker underwent wrist surgery and will miss the remainder of the playoffs, McDaniel said.
Andrew Van Ginkel’s timeline is a little less set in stone but he will miss at least the Dolphins’ next game
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) January 8, 2024
Injuries have been the story for Miami all season long, but not to the player that everyone thought was the most injury prone. Many pinned the potential success of the Dolphins on the health of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who had a growing list of issues that had kept him out of many games during his first three seasons.
But Tagovailoa was able to remain mostly upright and healthy throughout the season, starting in all 17 regular season games for Miami in 2023.
It was other positions that were adversely affected. Jalen Ramsey, the team’s big off-season acquisition, missed the first part of the regular season thanks to an injury sustained in training camp. Offensive linemen regularly missed games, and the Dolphins had 12 different starting front fives, the most of any team in the league.
Things got far worse as the season wore on. Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips was having a career year before being placed on IR with a torn Achilles. He was joined there by starting center Connor Williams in Week 15. The team’s other elite pass rusher, Bradley Chubb, tore his ACL in garbage time of the team’s Week 17 loss.
Safety Jevon Holland missed time with two knee problems. Rookie running back De’Von Achane was out for four games with a knee injury. Explosive playmakers Raheem Mostert and Jaylen Waddle missed the final two games of the Dolphins season as well.
Does Miami Have Any Hope For The Postseason?
Every team has injuries
The Dolphins’ season has been significantly affected
Connor Williams, Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Isaiah Wynn, Jerome Baker
Jalen Ramsey, Xavien Howard, Raheem Mostert, Jaylen Waddle, AVG, Jevon Holland, De’Von Achane
Tua made it through, but
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 8, 2024
Miami still has hope for the year as one of the seven teams to qualify for the playoffs in the AFC, but they’ll be even more shorthanded than they’ve already been.
In Sunday night’s tough, division-losing loss to the Buffalo Bills, Andrew Van Ginkel suffered a foot injury, and limped off the field and into the locker room. On Monday afternoon, he was ruled out of the upcoming game against the Chiefs by head coach Mike McDaniel.
McDaniel also reported on starting middle linebacker Jerome Baker, who was making his return from the injured list against Buffalo. Baker suffered a wrist injury in the game and has already had surgery, and has been declared out for the season.
Cornerback Xavien Howard will miss the upcoming game as well with a bad foot.
Miami will need all remaining hands on deck in order to take down the Chiefs on Saturday night, but even that might not be enough for the wildly shorthanded Dolphins.
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