HOUSTON — The NFL regular season opens in Arrowhead in just three weeks, and the Miami Dolphins‘ Terron Armstead took the practice field here Wednesday just 25 days shy of the team’s Week 1 opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Armstead on that day will be counted upon to play 65 to 70 snaps of offense. While we don’t have an official count, he might not have logged that many 11-on-11 reps total in training camp.
Which raises an important question: Will Armstead be ready for Miami’s season opener? And if so, how effective would he be?
Injury Update for Miami Dolphins LT Terron Armstead
Armstead is the first to admit that if the regular season began this week, he would look quite rusty.
“Process,” Armstead said Wednesday, when asked for an update on his fitness. “I’m still getting ready. I don’t feel like I’m fully ready yet for the regular season, but we don’t have a game yet. Still working through that process. Trying to get more reps to get more game-ready and get my body feeling optimal. Just get it as good as possible to go out and play some ball.”
Armstead is still just weeks removed from arthroscopic surgery to clean up a knee issue. And while he’s certainly made progress — he wasn’t even practicing three weeks ago — he needs to make more.
Terron Armstead: “Today, it felt normal.” Talking about the offense that had been out of sorts for the better part of a week. pic.twitter.com/fSetPUWJpl
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) August 16, 2023
“We had an initial plan,” Armstead said. “But as we go, things kind of pop up or need more work in this area, less work in this area. So just playing it like that. I’ve been around for a long time now, so I know what’s needed to get prepared. I feel like it’s time to ramp up some more.”
Getting Armstead ready and keeping him healthy is a balancing act for the Dolphins’ medical and strength staff. We’ve written extensively about how much better Miami’s offense was when Armstead was on the field last year (roughly a touchdown per game).
But we’ve also written extensively about how Armstead can’t go through a season without some sort of injury keeping him out of action.
The team must weigh the risks and rewards that come with putting Armstead at risk in quasi-controlled settings like Wednesday’s joint practice and uncontrolled settings like Saturday’s preseason game here.
“What we need to see and what we need to see from Armstead is the healthiest version of himself and no setbacks,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said last week.