The Miami Dolphins defense has five of the team’s starting linebackers on injured reserve, starting cornerback Xavien Howard’s right foot is in a cast, and now the defense is facing a safety crisis.
Starting safety Jevon Holland has been battling knee soreness for the past month, and pulled himself out of last Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, and DeShon Elliott’s calf injury has his participation limited in the first two days of preparation for Saturday’s playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
HOLLAND'S KNEES 'NOT PROGRESSING'
Holland, who sprained the MCL in both his knees during Miami’s Nov. 24 win over the New York Jets, said soreness “started firing up again” last week, and it motivated him to scale back his involvement in the 21-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
“It’s not regressing. It’s just not progressing as forward as I’d like it to,” said Holland, who contributed 74 tackles, one interception and three forced fumbles in the 12 games he’s played this season.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Miami’s medical staff plans to take a different approach with Holland’s treatment this week.
“We’ll try some different (things). The main thing is to try to get him where he can be at his peak performance for the entirety of a game. Our plan is to kind of adjust the way we’ve done the work week and see how that will relate to the game,” McDaniel said. “The idea is he’s able to fully be himself for the entirety of the game, so we’ll probably try a little different formula to try to get a better solution.”
Elliott suffered the calf injury during Sunday's warmup for the Bills game but played through the pain.
“He will be really focusing most of his attention in the training room,” McDaniel said of Elliott, who has contributed 82 tackles, one interception and recorded one fumble in his 15 games. “He won’t practice but we’re hopeful that he’ll be able to get himself right for game day. That’s what our main objective is.”
If Holland or Elliott can’t play, expect Brandon Jones to start a seventh game as his replacement. Jones has contributed 48 tackles, two interceptions, forced a fumble and recovered another this season.
The only other options are Elijah Campbell, a core special-teamer, and Nik Needham, who primarily served as a cornerback but has been trained to play safety.
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