Examining the Miami Dolphins' Chop Situation from Different Angles

The morning after the surprising development on the Miami Dolphins' first injury report for their Week 2 matchup at San Francisco, plenty of question remain regarding edge defender Chop Robinson.

And those questions, unfortunately, involve both the short term and the long term.

Robinson was listed as a limited participant in practice Wednesday, but the big news was that his injury was listed as a concussion.

There was no indication of Robinson getting injured during the 27-13 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, and the first question involves the timing of the injury.

Because Wednesday was the first full practice since the Las Vegas game and Robinson was not wearing a red (no-contact) jersey during the period open to the media in Napa, according to Omar Kelly of The Miami Herald, this suggests Robinson was injured sometime during that practice.

The NFL has a very elaborate protocol for those players, which includes football-specific exercise and wraps up with "unrestricted participation in full contact practice."

Again, it's almost inconceivable that Robinson could have entered the concussion protocol before practice Wednesday and not worn a red jersey.

THE SHORT-TERM RAMIFICATIONS

Based on the timeline and Robinson's concussion history, which we'll address later, it seems very difficult to envision him playing against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.

While his performance in the season opener was pretty underwhelming, Robinson still remains the team's best pass rusher, if not they're only threat in that department.

The stat sheet showed Robinson with only one assisted tackle against the Raiders in Week 1, but he did have two of the team's four quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Reference.

If Robinson can't play, the Dolphins would be down to three edge defenders on their active roster — Josh Uche, Robert Beal Jr. and Malik Herring — and it's almost certain one would be elevated from the practice squad.

Even for the Las Vegas game, the Dolphins elevated former fourth overall pick Clelin Ferrell to help out on the edge, so he likely would be first in line to get the call, which would set him up for a second consecutive reunion game against the team that drafted him (Raiders) and the team for which he played last season (49ers).

The Dolphins do have three other edge defenders on the practice squad with rookie seventh-round pick Max Llewellyn, Rodney McGraw and Amari Gainer, so maybe the Dolphins would prefer giving Llewellyn a taste of NFL experience — especially considering Ferrell wasn't noticeable in his limited defensive snaps against the Raiders.

THE LONG-TERM COMPLICATIONS WITH ROBINSON

As mentioned earlier, this unfortunately isn't the first time Robinson is dealing with a concussion and it's becoming worrisome.

Robinson sustained two concussions last season and had to miss the Week 10 game against the Buffalo Bills and the season finale against the New England Patriots.

Concussions always are tricky but a third concussion in about 10 months is cause for concern.

And this is where it gets tricky with Robinson, the 2024 first-round pick who has yet to deliver on his draft status and projected potential heading into his important third season.

The Dolphins will have a decision to make on Robinson next spring when they have to make the call on whether to pick up his fifth-year option for 2028, extend him or have him play out the final year of his rookie contract.

Now, even if he were to bust out this season, the idea of an extension instead of the fifth-year option if the Dolphins want to move forward with him very well might be off the table given the long-term health concerns.

That's for down the line, though.

The more immediate concern involves Robinson's status for the 49ers game and the weeks that follow.