CB Jones doubtful for tough test against Seahawks QB Wilson
The 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 noncommittal 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 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 hopes 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 can’t 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 an injury, is now healthy and able to play Sunday.
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 seventhrounder 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, 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.”
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.
THIS AND THAT
Receiver Preston Williams, on what he has determined about rookie cornerback 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, 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.”
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.