Reshard Jones limited in practice Thursday.
Reshad Jones’ participation in Thursday’s practice was limited, but his presence hints there is a chance the Miami Dolphins might have their top defender for Sunday’s game.
Jones, who has contributed 10 tackles and two interceptions in the Dolphins’ first two games, suffered a right shoulder injury in Miami’s 20-12 win over the New York Jets last week.
Jones was held out of Wednesday’s practice and was kept out of anything involving contact during the portion of Thursday’s practice the media watched.
If Jones, who has started 98 games in his nine-year career with the Dolphins, isn’t cleared to play in Sunday’s home game against the Oakland Raiders, his absence would force major changes in Miami’s secondary.
The Dolphins would either use Minkah Fitzpatrick, the team’s 2018 first-round pick, as the player paired with T.J. McDonald as the starting safeties. Or it would be Maurice Smith, a secondyear player who got called up from the practice squad this week.
Fitzpatrick has contributed nine tackles and one pass deflection in the two games he’s played in as the Dolphins’ nickel cornerback. Even though Fitzpatrick works with the first-team defense, he hasn’t started an NFL game yet, and this could provide that opportunity.
Smith joined the Dolphins as a promising undrafted rookie from Georgia and impressed Miami’s coaches so much he was preparing to start a game last season, but had his appendix rupture days before that December game.
The last time Jones missed an NFL game was the 2016 season when a left shoulder injury forced him to miss the final 10 games of that 10-6 season. Jones later disclosed that he’d been playing through that initial shoulder injury for over a year before suffering a tear that was surgically repaired.