Going for broke

Battered Dolphins linebackers fight through injuries.

DAVIE — Ever try making a dish without one of the main ingredients in the recipe? How about doing it with three of the critical components missing?

That’s been defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s challenge all season, trying to cook up a respectable defense for the Miami Dolphins with an injury-decimated, watered down linebackers unit. This is a group that was already viewed as a troublesome spot coming into the season, back when everyone was healthy.

Koa Misi, a starter since 2010, has missed most of the season with a neck injury that reportedly could end his NFL career.

Jelani Jenkins, the starting weakside linebacker the past three seasons, has been in and out of the lineup all of 2016 because of various injuries. Joseph claims Jenkins won’t play again until his knee is completely healed.

And now Kiko Alonso, the team’s leading tackler, the focal point of the Dolphins’ defense the entire season, has a broken left thumb and a troublesome hamstring injury that could sideline him for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. And it threatens to keep him out even longer.

“Snake bitten” was the word Jenkins used to describe what’s happened to Miami’s starting linebackers.

“I feel like a million bucks,” Jelani joked, raising his broken left hand in the air.

At times like this it is important to have a sense of humor and a positive outlook.

That’s the approach the Dolphins are taking with the team’s most troublesome unit, which got exposed last week against the Baltimore Ravens, carving Miami’s defense up with a quick passing game that targeted the middle of the field.

“You have to stay positive, take it a day at a time to do whatever you can to get back out there,” said Jenkins, who re-aggravated a right knee injury in the San Diego game and has been shelved or limited for the past four weeks. “Stressing about what you can’t control is not going to do you any good.”

Joseph said the Dolphins had some good defenses called during the plays in which Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta exploited Miami’s defense, catching nine passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. According to Joseph, the linebackers and safeties simply didn’t “play them well,” giving Baltimore’s playmakers too much space.

“Whoever is in there we expect them to do their job. That’s not an excuse,” Joseph said when asked about the unit’s injuries, which have forced four reserves — Donald Butler, Neville Hewitt, Spencer Paysinger and Mike Hull — into contributing roles, if not starting spots.

The Dolphins have been getting by using a combination of linebackers in various packages. But Miami’s struggles on defense against the 49ers and the Ravens, two teams that exploited Miami’s defense with their tight ends and tailbacks, hint that the cracks are

“Whoever is in there we expect them to do their job. That’s not an excuse.” Vance Joseph, Dolphins defensive coordinator on linebackers’ injuries

widening, and more yardage from the middle of the field might leak out.

Even Joseph admitted that Miami’s opponents will continue to exploit the middle of the field with copycat plays the 49ers and Ravens used until the Dolphins stop them.

If Alonso can’t play, Hull, a second-year player from Penn State, would make his first NFL start, and he’d be the new playcaller for the entire defense.

“It’s always hard when you can’t go out there and play, especially this time of year when every game is so important,” said Alonso, who claims he strained his hamstring on the second play of the Ravens game and fought through it.

While none of Hull’s coaches or teammates believe replacing Alonso is a task too big for the 2014 Big Ten Linebacker of the Year, it could lead to a few breakdowns. But the Dolphins are optimistic Hull can handle the challenge.

“That guy’s a monster. Just watching him in preseason, I think you guys could tell that obviously the guy can play. We’ve got full faith in Mike,” Alonso said about Hull. “The guy’s a freaking beast.”

Hull will need to be if the Dolphins defense intends to stop the bleeding.

Jenkins