The Miami Dolphins had their best performance of the 2025 season on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in their 34-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Unfortunately, for one young key defensive contributor, it wound up being his last game of the year.
Reported by the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson, Dolphins cornerback Storm Duck suffered a season-ending knee injury in the win over the Falcons.
Dolphins lose Storm Duck to season-ending injury
Storm Duck, who was carted off with a knee injury Sunday, had a season-ending knee injury... Dolphins have another 16 or so days to activate CB Jason Marshall Jr., who began practicing last week.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) October 27, 2025
It's unclear exactly what happened on the play, but Duck was carted off the field at around the 11:23 mark in the fourth quarter.
Several things went right for Miami in its win over Atlanta, but including Duck's injury, the Dolphins' secondary came out of the game banged up. While Duck's injury was the most significant, defensive backs Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ifeatu Melifonwu, and Ashytn Davis were also injured in the contest.
According to head coach Mike McDaniel, Fitzpatrick could have returned to the game if the score hadn't been so one-sided. Likewise, Melifonwu did return after sustaining a hand injury. Davis, meanwhile, left in the first quarter with a quadriceps injury. Given that Miami has a quick turnaround against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, McDaniel responded, "In short weeks, I operate pessimistically," when discussing Davis' availability.
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For Duck, it's a devastating injury that ends his second season that never really got going. Undrafted in 2024, Duck essentially emerged as Miami's CB1 heading into the regular season. While most of that was by default because the Dolphins did next to nothing in acknowledging the situation, it showed how hard Duck had worked to become a pivotal part of the defense.
Unfortunately, Duck suffered an ankle injury in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts that saw him get placed on injured reserve. He missed the next six games and did not play again until this past Sunday against the Falcons.
The good news for Miami is that they could get another cornerback to return this week. Rookie Jason Marshall Jr. suffered a hamstring injury in Week 3 that forced him onto IR, but he returned to practice last Wednesday after the Dolphins opened his 21-day practice window. The Dolphins elected not to activate Marshall for the game against Atlanta, but it's possible he suits up on Thursday against Baltimore.
Miami's IR sheet is piling up again, and McDaniel already addressed that offensive linemen Austin Jackson, James Daniels, and Andrew Meyer, as well as kicker Jason Sanders, will not be coming off injured reserve this week. No surprise there, given the short week, but most of these players were expected to come off IR after about a month. Yet, here we stand two months into the season with no signs of progression.
If Miami is going to make a miraculous turnaround to save its season, their only shot is to get some of these guys healthy without losing any more key contributors.