The First Dolphins-Jets Injury Report And What It Means

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was just one of five players on the team who were limited or did not practice Wednesday

The first injury report of the week for the Miami Dolphins certainly was a little disconcerting.

The big news, of course, was the limited participation of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in practice because of a thumb injury to his throwing hand.

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But Tagovailoa was just one five Dolphins players who either didn't practice Wednesday or was limited.

The two who didn't practice were the two players who had injuries reported in the press box during the 20-13 loss against the Denver Broncos on Sunday: running back Salvon Ahmed (shoulder) and guard Solomon Kindley (foot).

And both of them are problematic.

Ahmed started each of the past two games with previous starter Myles Gaskin on injured reserve. Now, there was some good news Wednesday in that Gaskin returned to practice, but there's still no guarantee that he'll be ready to go against the New York Jets on Sunday.

Gaskin and Ahmed, the former college teammates from the University of Washington, figure to split carries once they're both in the lineup at the same time.

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If neither can play against the Jets, the Dolphins would turn to any combination of Matt Breida, Patrick Laird and newcomer DeAndre Washington.

As for Kindley, the Dolphins already are dealing with the potential absence of guard/tackle Jesse Davis, who was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Monday.

If both are out against the Jets, then the Dolphins would select their fifth starter on the offensive line — to join Austin Jackson, Ereck Flowers, Ted Karras and Robert Hunt — from among Adam Pankey, Julien Davenport and second-year player Michael Deiter.

Along with Tagovailoa, the Dolphins players who were limited were defensive tackle Raekwon Davis (thumb) and linebacker Kyle Van Noy (hip).

Van Noy played most of the defensive snaps against Denver despite spending all week on the injury report with that same hip injury.

As for Davis, any potential issue with his availability would be somewhat diminished by the return of Christian Wilkins, who was activated off the COVID-19 list and returned to practice Wednesday.

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Four other players were on the initial injury report of the week but listed as full participants in practice: S Kavon Frazier (shoulder), LB Shaq Lawson (shoulder), CB Jamal Perry (foot) and LB Andrew Van Ginkel (wrist).

For the Jets, the big news involved quarterback Sam Darnold, who practiced Wednesday (albeit on a limited basis) after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury.

The one player who did not practice for the Jets was tackle George Fant, who has started nine games this season but is dealing with knee/ankle issues.