MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Kion Smith wasn’t expected to start for the Miami Dolphins this year, but that doesn’t mean his season-ending knee injury doesn’t hurt.
Smith was a key depth piece and could have helped at both tackle and guard for a team with real questions about its interior offensive line.
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Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel isn’t worried though — at least based on his surprising comments Monday about the team’s most worrisome position group.
“I don’t know how many NFL offensive linemen we have, but it’s more than you’re able to keep on a roster,” McDaniel said.
“So that’s the good news is that there will be guys that will get [opportunities] and have to step their game up, because Kion is somebody that we’ve learned to rely upon more and more. And somebody’s got to step up in his place. And who that’s going to be, they’ll have the first opportunity to tell me today.”
The most obvious short-term beneficiary is Lester Cotton, who is, for now, RG1, with Liam Eichenberg shifting over to center as Aaron Brewer deals with an injury that McDaniel recently classified as “week-to-week.”
Cotton, Liam Eichenberg, and Robert Jones are familiar names for Dolphins fans. They all had more than 400 offensive snaps for Miami in 2023, and unless Isaiah Wynn makes an unexpected recovery in the next couple of weeks, at least one will start Week 1 for Miami. But behind them? The likes of Jack Driscoll, Sean Harlow, and Andrew Meyer.
Those three all got significant snaps in Friday’s Dolphins-Falcons preseason game — and apparently did OK.
“I saw the line of scrimmage be reset,” McDaniel said. “And that is something that we worked diligently at. We tried to kind of reframe how we articulated to engender better results. And I think overall, you get to learn a lot about your overall team and where they’re at by some of the twos and threes and where their game’s at.
“Because it’s almost like a baseline of what is your starting point, where your game’s at, and what has clicked for the group. And to see the line of scrimmage reset at times, that was very encouraging.
“And then, I think there was some communication stuff that we’ll always be working on so we can have conviction and unity when whenever we’re executing whatever phase, but I saw that the line of scrimmage was a big positive coming out of that game with the with the younger guys in particular really gravitating towards their new technique and fundamentals.”
Added Cotton: “When Butch [Barry] first got here, one thing that he said that kind of stuck with me since he’s been here was chop wood, carry water. So we just do the best that we can. We chop wood, and if stuff’s not going right, we carry water.”
As for the Smith injury, McDaniel said:
“It’s always really, really hard to — in real time — watch a player really digest the reality of a season-ending entry. People don’t really think of it this way, but you have all these objectives, and this in this forecasting that’s built up, just like coverage for the National Football League, is built up for months and then all of a sudden boom, ‘Wow, it’s all different.’
“So for Kion, who is really more, has gone after his job, and he’s developed as since we’ve been here as much as any one of our favorite guys to coach, that was tough. That was tough.”
More Dolphins Injury News
The Dolphins lost two talented linebackers Monday but got one back, as Jaelan Phillips came off PUP the same day Miami placed Grayson Murphy and Cam Brown on injured reserve. Each suffered season-ending injuries in the preseason opener.
But that’s just the start of the Dolphins’ concerns.
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Along with Brewer, the following Dolphins were not spotted at Monday’s practice: Running backs Jeff Wilson Jr. and Salvon Ahmed; wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Anthony Schwartz; tight ends Tanner Conner and Jody Fortson Jr.; defensive linemen Neville Gallimore and Benito Jones; linebacker Mohamed Kamara; and cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey Ramsey, Ethan Bonner, and Cam Smith.
While Odell Beckham Jr. will likely remain on PUP for at least another week, the Dolphins did get back receivers Erik Ezukanma and Braxton Berrios after both missed the preseason game.
Jordan Poyer, who was wearing a cast on his right hand, warmed up with the team but didn’t do much Monday.