The Dolphins are keeping one of their key offensive players sidelined for at least the next few practices.
Head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters in his Monday press conference that De’Von Achane is unlikely to practice this week due to a calf issue.
But McDaniel noted that Achane getting held out of practice is precautionary.
“All trainers across the league have horror stories with calves if you’re too aggressive coming back,” McDaniel said, via David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Achane rushed for 907 yards with six touchdowns and caught 78 passes for 592 yards with six touchdowns for Miami last season.
Miami also has Mike Boone, Ollie Gordon II, Aaron Shampklin, and Jaylen Wright on its roster at running back .
Cornerback Xavien Howard is back in the game.
According to agent David Canter, Howard has agreed to a deal with the Colts.
Howard, 32, did not play in the 2024 season after he was released by the Dolphins in March. A four-time Pro Bowler and one-time first-team All-Pro, Howard has recorded 29 interceptions and 95 passes defensed in 100 career games.
Back in 2023, he recorded 12 passes defensed with one interception in 13 games for Miami.
Howard will be reunited in Indianapolis with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who served as Howard’s position coach with the Dolphins for the corner’s first two seasons.
The Colts have been dealing with several injuries in their cornerbacks room, partially necessitating the move to add Howard.
Veteran edge rusher Matthew Judon could be continuing his career in Miami.
Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports that Judon will visit the Dolphins on Monday. Judon said in May that he believes he can still play and that he was weighing his options to do so.
The Patriots traded Judon to the Falcons before the 2024 season. He had 5.5 sacks while appearing in all 17 games for Atlanta and he has 72 sacks over a career that began as a Ravens fifth-round pick in 2016.
Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, and Chop Robinson are the top edge rushers currently on the Dolphins’ roster.
Running back De’Von Achane was one of 28 players who were inactive for the Dolphins in their 24-17 victory over the Lions on Saturday.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel told reporters after that game that Achane has a soft-tissue lower-body injury that will keep him out between “days and weeks.” McDaniel, though, added that he’s not concerned about Achane’s availability for the season opener.
Defensive tackle Zach Sieler has a similar timeline for an undisclosed injury.
Achane missed six games with a knee injury as a rookie in 2023 but played all 17 games last season. He has 411 touches for 2,496 yards and 23 touches in two seasons.
Jaylen Wright, rookie Ollie Gordon II and Mike Boone are behind Achane at the position.
The NFL announced this offseason that it would use state-of-the-art technology to measure first downs, rather than the ancient technology of measuring with a 10-yard chain. But the technology hasn’t been perfected yet.
After Miami ran up the middle on third-and-1 today in Detroit, the virtual measurement technology was employed to see if it was a first down. But there was a significant delay in getting the first down confirmed, long enough that it really didn’t save any time compared to bringing out the chains.
At the same time that the virtual measurement was plodding along, YouTube’s Sunday Ticket stream of the game briefly went out and was replaced by a “technical difficulties” screen. It’s unclear if those two technological issues were connected.
While the virtual measurement is replacing the chains, the spotting of the ball is still done by the officials on the field. So if there’s human error in assessing where the ball was when the ball carrier was stopped, the virtual measurement won’t fix that.
The NFL has partnered with Sony to use its Hawk-Eye technology, which is also used in soccer, tennis and other sports, for its virtual measurements.
