Even after defeat, their luck is good

The Miami Dolphins may have been luckier than some other NFL teams on the injury front after Week 2.

And Dolphins coach Brian Flores is knocking on wood, hoping that trend continues for Thursday’s road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker was able to play most of Miami’s 31-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday after dealing with a hamstring injury for much of the past month, while cornerback Byron Jones suffered a groin injury in the first quarter and may not be able to play against Jacksonville.

“I’m not missing any more games,” said Parker, who played in all 16 games for the first time in his career last season.

Both players’ availability to play, when Jones does make his return, bode well for a 0-2 Dolphins team trying to find its footing on both sides of the ball.

But some other teams around the league have lost talented players that could greatly impact their seasons.

Flores could not help but feel for players who went down with more significant injuries on Sunday, such as Giants running back Saquan Barkley and 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, who both suffered season-ending knee injuries.

“It’s really unfortunate with the rash of injuries all around the league. You never want it to happen, you just don’t,” Flores said Tuesday.

“As someone who works with these guys on a daily basis, I know how hard they work. I know how important it is to them. I hate to see it, whether it’s obviously our team or anybody in the league, whether we’re playing them or not playing them.

“You just hate to see it. It’s unfortunate. They work extremely hard, and to have it taken away from them, I feel for them all.”

With no offseason training activities earlier this spring and summer, no preseason games and a reduced training camp schedule, Flores says it’s easy to conceive NFL players may be succumbing to injuries because of a lack of considerable preparation time needed to prepare for the rigors of a season.

But as Flores warned, football is still football. It’s a violent sport where bodies bend and collide at rates that could cause an injury on any given play.

And for some teams, it could end their potential for a significant run toward the postseason.

Along with losing Bosa, the former St. Thomas Aquinas standout, the Super Bowl runner-up 49ers lost defensive end Soloman Thomas, the No. 3 pick in 2017, to a season-ending knee injury.

San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garrapolo (high ankle sprain) and running back Raheem Mostert (sprained MCL) also suffered significant injuries Sunday.

Panthers star running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a high ankle sprain that could shelve him for a couple games, while Broncos quarterback Drew Lock suffered a sprained AC joint in his shoulder that forced Denver to sign Blake Bortles on Tuesday.

Denver also lost top receiver Courtland Sutton to a season-ending knee injury.

Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor experienced chest pains from a painkiller that was administered to treat a rib injury before Sunday’s game, according to an NFL Network report, forcing rookie Justin Herbert to start against the Chiefs.