Dolphins Preparing to Play Chiefs Without Starting Safeties
The Miami Dolphins might be forced to play Saturday's playoff game against Kansas City Chiefs without two more of the team's starting defenders in the lineup.
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 kept him from practicing for Saturday’s playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"We got a situation there," coach Mike McDaniel warned about the safety spot, which has been forced to play without one of the starters in the lineup for seven games this season.
Neither Holland or Elliott participated in Miami's lone on-field practice of the week Friday.
Howard, Holland and Elliott were the only three players on the active roster not spotted during the portion of practice open to the media.
"He might as well have a post office box here and get his mail delivered here because he's been living in the training room," McDaniel said about Elliott, who has contributed 82 tackles, one interception and recorded one fumble in his 15 games.
The biggest problem about playing the Chiefs without the starting safeties is Miami is facing Patrick Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time winner of the NFL's Most Valuable Player honor with a secondary that is already missing cornerback Xavien Howard, who will miss his third game because of a right foot injury that has him in a cast.
The Dolphins decision on their game status will likely come down to whether Holland and Elliott can start and finish the game, according to McDaniel.
"It’s one of those things you can’t control," Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "I know they both want to play and are trying to do everything they can from a treatment standpoint. I think DeShon (Elliott) showed his toughness and want-to by playing in that game the other night.”
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.
McDaniel said Miami’s medical staff plans to take a different approach with Holland’s treatment this week, but wouldn't go into detail.
“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. That could have made the issue worse.
WHO COULD THE REPLACEMENT BE?
If Holland and Elliott can’t play, expect Brandon Jones to start a seventh game as his replacement, and Elijah Campbell to start his second game. The pair had previous started Miami's Dec. 17 win over the New York Jets together.
Jones has contributed 48 tackles, two interceptions, forced a fumble and recovered another this season.
"I think Brandon (Jones) has done a good job. Like I’ve said before, in a weird way, the season has worked out good for him," Fangio said. "He’s gotten a lot more playing time than he probably thought he would and it’s come in intermittent pieces, which was good because he had no training camp and offseason. I think he’s done well.”
The only other options to fill in at safety are Nik Needham, who also served as Miami's backup nickel cornerback and dime safety, and Ethan Bonner, a practice squad player who has cross trained as a cornerback and safety all year.
