The 6-7 Miami Dolphins will travel to Texas to face off against the 8-5 Houston Texans at NRG Stadium for a pivotal conference matchup. Since the Buffalo Bills have already clinched the AFC East division title, the Dolphins can only make the playoffs through the wild card. Sitting in 9th place in the AFC Playoff Picture, every week is a must-win, and they cannot afford to lose anymore.
The Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl OT has battled a nagging injury
Terron Armstead has battled a nagging knee injury for quite a while, initially appearing on Week 9’s injury report due to a knee issue. Armstead has since played the last six games with the knee injury and even went Weeks 11-14 without practicing. He also played every snap in Weeks 9, 10, 11, and 13.
Unfortunately for Armstead, he didn’t last long in Week 14 against the New York Jets. The Pro Bowler played the first three snaps on the opening possession but took himself out of the game. He returned for the second possession but once again exited after two snaps. He finished the day playing only five snaps.
During Monday’s press conference, head coach Mike McDaniel told the media he needs to rest his knee and didn’t commit to shutting him down for the rest of the season. Here’s what he had to say about the situation involving his nagging knee injury.
“Yeah, it’s a rest thing. I think you might have seen his frustration level to try to contribute in this particular game and it’s something that he can’t control, so you talk to him about – I’ve been very proud of how he’s handled all of it because he’s probably at a new level of maturity to handle these types of things based upon his necessity,” McDaniel said via the team’s website. “I think we’ll let it cool down a little bit and what that means for time moving forward, I’m going to make sure that my communication is steadfast with him, and we’ll play out all the scenarios with our group.”
His game status for Week 15 isn’t looking too good
Terron Armstead did not participate during the week of practice. The Miami Dolphins released the week’s final injury report on Friday. They listed Armstead as doubtful, meaning it’s highly unlikely that the Pro Bowl left tackle will play against the Houston Texans.
Final injury report. #MIAvsHOU
LT1 Terron Armstead hasn’t been ruled out yet; he’s the only player who could be listed as Doubtful on Friday and still play on Sunday. LT3 Patrick Paul in line to start.
Everyone else currently on the Active Roster is available. #Dolphins pic.twitter.com/2ZXl78io7p
— Chris at Phins.com (@PhinsChris) December 13, 2024
Who starts (if Pro Bowler cannot play)
Dolphins’ rookie Patrick Paul will start at left tackle in this realistic hypothetical. Paul made his starting debut at left tackle in Week 4. The rookie has taken over as the team’s backup left tackle, and Kendall Lamm took over at right tackle for the injured Austin Jackson. The second-round pick has played over 147 snaps on the left side out of 166, including 67 in Week 14. He has a chance to audition for the starting left tackle of the future this week.
Also Read: Miami Dolphins: Officially Announced the Game Status of Elite Pro Bowler for Week 12
