The hope was that some of Miami’s key veteran players would be able to bounce back from a few days of rest and find themselves back on the gridiron this weekend against the New England Patriots — but at least one starter on either side of the football is going to miss the action. The Dolphins will officially be without veteran safety Reshad Jones and explosive wide receiver Albert Wilson against the New England Patriots in Week 2.
Jones, who had offseason surgery for a shoulder issue, is now dealing with a lame right ankle — the latest in a long list of injuries over the last few seasons that has kept him off of the field on game day.
Wilson, who played just a handful of snaps against the Ravens last Sunday, is still being hampered with the hip he injured last season — but a calf issue can be added to his ailments.
For the Dolphins, it’s pretty senseless to force veteran players back onto the field to play through injuries, given the expected output of the 2019 season. The team can instead continue to use these issues as evaluation for other players on the roster — specifically in Jones’ case. Miami seems to be struggling to find the right mix of full time safeties on the back end.
The Dolphins aren’t expected to look at Minkah Fitzpatrick to fill a traditional back-end role on the defense, despite Fitzpatrick’s protests that he’s currently playing “out of position” in Miami’s shape-shifting defense. Fitzpatrick can like it or not, but his versatility is too valuable to lock into a single role or usage — either in the short-term or the long-term.
