At 2-4 after their first six games, the Miami Dolphins obviously haven’t had the best of seasons. Now, their last 10 games are going to be even tougher without one of their best players on defense.
Safety Reshad Jones is officially out the rest of the season with a rotator cuff injury. Dolphins head coach Adam Gase confirmed Jones’ status in his press conference with the media before the team placed him on injured reserve later on Wednesday.
Jones attempted to seek a second opinion on the injury, but he will require season-ending surgery. Miami will likely count on a committee of players to try and replace Jones production.
“We got to have the next-man-up mentality,” Gase said on Wednesday. “It’s tough when you lose a player of his caliber, not only as far as a player, but as far as a leader. He has done a great job of showing guys the right way to do things. The way that he goes about his business on and off the field, he does it right. It’s unfortunate for him and for us, because he was having a good year. I know it hurt him a lot for the fact that he wasn’t going to be out there with those guys anymore.”
It goes without saying that Jones could be the best safety in the NFL. In six games this season, Jones is second on the Dolphins in tackles with 50 as he also has a half a sack and an interception on the year. Last season, Jones racked up 135 tackles, five interceptions and two sacks.
Reportedly, Jones had been dealing with pain in his shoulder for weeks.
Against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, it will be some combination of Michael Thomas, Isa Abdul-Quddus and Walt Aikens.
“We’ll go through this week of practice and kind of figure out what our best personnel package will be back there, Gase said. “We have a lot of moving pieces as far as what we like to do with defensive packages. We play a lot of different guys.”
Last season, Thomas started 13 games at free safety as he recorded 85 tackles. In 2016, Thomas has split time at nickel corner and safety and he has 20 tackles, a sack and forced fumble on the campaign.
Abdul-Quddus, who has 32 tackles and two interceptions, could move to strong safety with Jones out. In his five prior seasons in the league with the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions, strong safety was Abdul-Quddus primary position.
Twitter: @antwanstaley
