Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hoping to return
Miami optimistic Alonso will play Saturday night
Dolphins optimistic Kiko Alonso will be ready.
DAVIE — If the Dolphins are going to make a successful push for their first playoff berth since 2008, it would be ideal to have at least one of their starting linebackers on the field for this critical stretch that begins Saturday night against the New York Jets.
The Dolphins survived Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals playing with a linebacker unit entirely composed of backups, but defensive coordinator Vance Joseph hopes the medical report for that group improves in the coming days.
Joseph said the team hopes to get inside linebacker Kiko Alonso back for Saturday. He said he was not sure about starting weakside linebacker Jelani Jenkins.
Alonso, whose 97 tackles lead the team, has a broken thumb and a hamstring strain that forced him to miss his first start as a Dolphins player last week.
Jenkins, who has a broken left wrist and a right knee sprain, has missed three of the past four games because the sore knee limits his mobility.
Joseph has been forced to start Mike Hull, Spencer Paysinger and Neville Hewitt as replacements.
Donald Butler, who has 19 tackles in 11 games, will start his third game as the replacement for strong-side linebacker Koa Misi, who was placed on injured reserve in October because of a neck injury.
Jenkins has participated in a full week of practice for the first time in a month, but his involvement was on a limited basis. Joseph has vowed not to play him until he’s completely healthy, which means Paysinger and
“If I feel like I can go out there and move around like I need to move around, then I’ll play.” Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso
Hewitt will likely continue to share the weak-side linebacker responsibilities.
Alonso, who has also practiced all week on a limited basis, said he feels much better this week because of the work Miami’s medical staff and trainers have done to get his hamstring to loosen up.
“It feels good,” Alonso said. “If I feel like I can go out there and move around like I need to move around, then I’ll play . ... I’m definitely trying to do everything I can to be out there, but at the same time, I’m not going to be stupid.”
While the Dolphins need Alonso, who is the playcaller for their defense, Joseph is concerned about the Jets trying to exploit his limited mobility in the passing game.
“They’re in four wide [receivers] a lot of times on first and second down. Our first game versus the Jets, Kiko played very well,” Joseph said, referring to a game in which Alonso made five tackles and broke up two passes. “That being said, he ran vertical with receivers the whole game. Obviously, with a hamstring issue, that can hamper his performance, so we’ve got to be careful if he’s not right — how to play him, if we play him.”
Having Hull start his second NFL game is the alternative, and considering he made a career-high eight tackles and pulled down his first interception against the Cardinals last week, that might not seem like a bad option against the Jets.
But Hull’s pass coverage still needs some work, and he struggles to shed blocks because of his size (6 feet, 233 pounds).
“I definitely made too many errors for my liking. There were little mental errors throughout the game,” said Hull, an undrafted second-year pro out of Penn State. “Nothing major, but I need to clean that up the next time I’m out there. But overall I’m definitely happy with my game.”
Joseph also noted that there’s plenty of room for improvement.
“Obviously, being his first start, certain things came up that shouldn’t have, like a couple of his drops and the [communication],” Joseph said. “But as far as playing football, Mike’s a good football player, so I wasn’t surprised he played well.”
Can Hull and the rest of the linebackers play better, get healthy, and help the Dolphins’ defense tighten up in this final three-game stretch?
Their playoff fate might depend on that answer.