Armstead injury should send a big message to Chris Grier but it won't
By Brian Miller
The Dolphins have already lost Jalen Ramsey until December and they have lost Cam Smith with a shoulder injury. Smith's injury won't keep him out long but he will miss practice time. Armstead's injury isn't considered significant and posted an Instagram video later in the evening of him walking without problem.
What this should do is send a message to Chris Grier. A message that says your team is only as good as your depth and with Armstead out, that depth is a major question. Kendall Lamm will slide into the LT spot and he is serviceable, in a good way. Behind him? There is nothing serviceable right now.
Grier has a tendency to name chase and throw out big contracts to players with injury concerns. It almost seems like the Dolphins believe their trainers can fix the problems but as we have seen for more than a decade, the Dolphins continue to get hit with injuries and at some point you have to ask why but more importantly you have to ask why Grier is the one bringing these guys in.
For the most part, and to be fair, most NFL players have some sort of injury history or concern but there are plenty of players that hit the market that have little to no injury history or missed starts.
I like Armstead and his leadership and there is something to say about having that kind of experience on the field when you are dealing with backups but you need him to play. On Thursday, questions immediately surfaced about why he was practicing at all. The injury happened on the first 11 on 11 session with the Houston Texans.
At some point, Grier has to start realizing that he can't fix everything with a bandaid. We can't say that Grier hasn't put attention on the offensive line. He has. Eichenberg, Armstead, Williams, Hunt, Jackson. The problem is that aside from Hunt, his draft picks have been horrible and his free agency isn't much better.
Dan Freeney was also hurt this week and is likely going to start the season on IR. Again, the depth to the team takes a hit. Is Grier looking to bolster the unit or his trying to figure out what to do about the big deals he gave to guys like Cedrick Wilson who will cost $8 million on the cap?
One thing is for certain, the Dolphins already thin line is getting thinner and Grier needs to be far more proactive than reactive.