CB Howard going on IR, season over
Xavien Howard’s season has come to an end.
The Miami Dolphins plan to place Howard, their second highest-paid player, on injured reserve on Tuesday after he re-aggravated a knee injury in the team’s 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, the South Florida Sun Sentinel has confirmed. The NFL Network was the first to report Howard going on IR.
“We’re still doing evaluations there to see where he is from a health standpoint. Again, it’s unfortunate. He’s one of our best players … but he’s a tough kid and he’ll bounce back,” coach Brian Flores said of Howard on Tuesday.
Howard agreed to a five-year, $76.5 million contract extension with the Dolphins this offseason that made him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. He is arguably Miami’s best player, and has a large role to play in the team’s rebuilding process which is already underway this season.
But Howard is being shutdown, while the Dolphins are in the midst of a 0-7 start this season with eyes set on drafting anywhere from 13-15 players in
the 2020 NFL draft next April.
Howard injured his knee at some point after the fourth game of the Dolphins season. He missed a practice during their Week 5 bye week, and was a limited participation in practice for the past three weeks.
Howard played against the Steelers, his fifth game of the season, after he missed the previous three games. But he ended up leaving the game in the third quarter after having the injury re-evaluated on the Dolphins sidelines.
After the game, Howard said he was going to get an MRI to examine the extent of the injury but did not have any concerns about his knee or injury history regarding both knees.
Howard’s 2018 Pro Bowl season ended with him missing the final four games to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery. But he was able to return and represent the Dolphins in the Pro Bowl game.
“I’m not worried about it,” Howard said after the Steelers game. “I’ve had a lot of knee surgeries, scopes things like that. I don’t think it’s all that serious.”
The Dolphins, however, do. They will sideline their best player for the rest of this season, while getting an evaluation on a number of younger defensive backs on the roster to see if those players also have an extended role to play in Miami’s franchise overhaul.
That group of players includes fifth-year cornerback Eric Rowe, second-year cornerback Ryan Lewis, first-year defensive backs
Jomal Wiltz, Chris Lammons, Steven Parker and rookie Nik Needham.
Rookie Ken Webster suffered a foot injury against the Steelers that required him to be carted off the field, and his status could be in question for the rest of the season. left, and Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard shake hands after Monday
The Dolphins also acquired 11-year veteran cornerback Aqib Talib and a reportedly a fifth-round pick from the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick on Tuesday before the NFL trade deadline.
Talib, however, is on injured reserve
with a rib injury and is not eligible to return until Week 15 — if he returns at all for the Dolphins — this season. Talib is owed $4.2 million, which Miami will pay, while adding another late-round pick to their impressive haul of 2020 draft picks.