The Dolphins could have concerns at cornerback.
Injury, youth present issues in backfield
DAVIE — Cornerback Xavien Howard (shoulder) didn’t practice Wednesday and it’s an injury worth monitoring closely considering that Miami Dolphins rookie cornerback Cordrea Tankersley, the thirdround pick from Clemson, made his NFL debut as a starter at the other cornerback spot last Sunday.
“We’re just going to have to go through the week and see kind of how he feels,” coach Adam Gase said of Howard. “It’s such a dayto-day deal with him right now.”
Howard, the 2016 second-round pick from Baylor, missed nine games last season due to a knee injury. He sustained his recent injury late in Sunday’s 20-0 shutout loss to New Orleans in London.
Gase acknowledged Tankersley has won the starting job on the left side over veteran Byron Maxwell. But Gase also said Maxwell could be a candidate to replace Howard.
The other remaining cornerbacks are Alterraun Verner, who was burned for a 69-yard touchdown in his few snaps against the New York Jets two games ago, undrafted rookie Torry McTyre and Jordan Lucas, the 2016 sixthround pick who was signed Tuesday from the practice squad.
“I think everybody’s an option right now,” Gase said.
Miami is 27th in passing defense in the league at 272 yards allowed per game, and they’ve allowed quarterbacks a passer rating of 112.4, which is 30th in the NFL.
Injury update
Linebacker Mike Hull (shoulder) and defensive end Terrence Fede (shoulder) were limited Wednesday.
Running back Jay Ajayi (knee), Maxwell (hamstring), defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (shoulder) and center Mike Pouncey (hip) were all full participants in practice.
Quotable
“We lost 20-0. We need to go to work.” — Gase when asked, in light of the recent heavy travel schedule, whether he’d reduce the practice workload for his players this week.
Cautiously optimistic
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, whose unit is No. 4 in the NFL against the run, allowing 77.7 yards per game, was asked whether the Dolphins are a good run defense or a defense that’s playing well against the run for now, and said “We’re a defense that’s playing pretty well in regards to the run game, if you want to look at stats and all of those different things.”
No excuses
Gase dismissed the idea that team chemistry, most notably quarterback Jay Cutler days shy of being with Miami for two months, could be a factor in the struggling offense.
“The chemistry part, when you kind of start late like we did, I can see it taking some time,” Gase said.
“But we’ve had enough time. We’ve had enough time and we need to be better at executing what we’re doing and making sure that we have more guys doing their jobs than what we’ve had, and that’s how we can get things corrected on offense.
“At this point the excuses are running out. There are no more excuses. It’s either get the job done or we’ll find somebody that can.”
Sense of urgency needed
Gase isn’t happy that his offense can’t seem to get to the line of scrimmage and call a play quickly.
He was asked why the play clock is often at five seconds or fewer when they snap the ball and he said players need a greater sense of urgency.
“The clock will go quick if you’re walking around and we’re getting into melees in between plays,” he said.
“The shot clock’s going. The officials aren’t going to stop it for you. So we’ve got to get back to the huddle, get the play called, get up to the line of scrimmage. Nobody should be asking questions.
“It’s not that hard. Line up and play.”