Jalen Ramsey plays football for the Miami Dolphins today and more updated injury news
By Brian Miller
Jalen Ramsey will make his Miami Dolphins debut this afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium and you can be when his name is announced pre-game, the Rock is going to go crazy.
EDITORS NOTE: Connor Williams is active for today's game but it appears that in pregame warmups, Liam Eichenberg is taking the first team reps. Miami could be resting him but having him there in case of an emergency. Looks like another week of Eich.
Ramsey has missed the entire season thus far and all of training camp after suffering a meniscus tear early in camp. The star CB was traded to the Dolphins from the Rams during the off-season and fans have been biting at the bits for him to take the field.
The Ramsey news is fantastic and while he may be on a proverbial "pitch count" this afternoon, the fact he is on the field is nothing short of a miracle. Ramsey was expected to miss through December but vowed to return earlier. That led to speculation he could return in mid to late November. Yet, here we are in the final weekend of October.
Getting Ramsey back will help a defensive secondary that is banged up and has been playing with deep-depth corners. Xavien Howard missed last Sunday with a groin injury.
Howard remains questionable for today's game against the Patriots. The Dolphins believe he has a chance to play and Howard has said he expects to but last week he said the same thing and Miami shut him down after pre-game warm-ups.
Today could be a similar situation and Howard may not learn his active status until an hour before the game. We will update this when that inactive list is released.
With Ramsey in and Howard in limbo, the Dolphins will likely see another returning CB in his first action dating back to the 2022 season. Nik Needham is healthy and ready to go. His addition will provide slot corner support but he has a small amount of experience playing safety as well.
Why is that important? Miami will be without starting safety Jevon Holland who was unable to clear concussion protocols this week. Miami listed him as out on Friday's injury report. With Holland out, DeShon Elliot and Brandon Jones will take over the safety duties.
Offensively, Connor Williams appears ready to return to his job at center and that could push Liam Eichenberg to the left guard position after Miami lost Isaiah Wynn last week to IR. Miami could also use Lester Cotton or returning from IR, Robert Jones at left guard.
The Miami Dolphins have released their inactive list for today's game early. Out for the Miami Dolphins are as follows:
- WR Robbie Chosen
- QB Skylar Thompson
- S Jevon Holland
- DT Brandon Pili
- CB Xavien Howard
What we can learn from this is simple. Nik Needham and Jalen Ramsey make their returns to the field today. Connor Williams will be back at center and Raheem Mostert is good to do. In addition, the Dolphins will go with Chase Claypool over Robbie Chosen.
It will be interesting if Claypool gets more reps and targets this week. He had one catch against the Eagles last Sunday but he could play a big role in today's game.