Four Dolphins Starters Return to Practice, Preparing for Eagles

The Miami Dolphins had four of the team's starters return to practice Thursday as the team continued preparations for Sunday night's nationally televised game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cornerback Xavien Howard and center Connor Williams, who are both nursing groin injuries, and fullback Alec Ingold, who has been nursing a foot injury for the past two weeks, all were at practice.

And Kendall Lamm, the offensive lineman who has replaced Terron Armstead as the starting left tackle for four of the six games, returned to the team after missing practice Wednesday to handle a personal issue.

However, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who leads the team with four sacks, wasn't spotted during the media viewing period during Thursday's practice. His status likely will be clarified later in the afternoon when the injury report comes out. But Van Ginkel was not on Wednesday's injury report.

According to a Wednesday post from his wife's social media account his absence appears to be family related.

It’s tough to see your kids hurting.. thankful they seem to be on the mend 🤍🥺 pic.twitter.com/i3gXxjZJZ7
— Sam Van Ginkel (@Sam_VanGinkel) October 19, 2023

Could Howard play Sunday?

The return of Howard, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, could be a key factor in the game because the Eagles feature the best receiver duo Miami likely will face all season in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who have combined for 70 receptions, which they have turned into 1,005 yards and four touchdowns.

Howard, who has a 76.5 opponent passer rating when targeted this season, is Miami's best defender in the secondary.

That passer rating is the best in Miami's secondary, which has the NFL's sixth-worst passer rating (98.9) for opposing quarterbacks this season.

If Howard doesn't play against the Eagles, Miami could be forced to use one of the team's backups — Justin Bethel, Parry Nickerson or rookie Cam Smith — in a starting role. The Dolphins also could activate Nik Needham off PUP. He's practiced for the past two weeks, but defensive coordinator Vic Fangio hinted that he might need more time coming back from the Achilles injury he suffered last October.

Will Connor Williams miss second straight game?

Williams has been nursing a groin injury for the past month.

He missed his second game of the season last Sunday, and the Dolphins are committed to letting his groin injury heal so it won't impact his performance in the final months of the regular season, and the playoffs. But it appears they were testing out the injury Thursday.

If Williams doesn't play this week, Eichenberg likely would start his third game at center.

Last week Eichenberg redeemed himself by playing a solid game, making a significant improvement from his dismal performance in Miami's 48-20 loss against the Buffalo Bills.

According to Wynn, it’s Eichenberg’s leadership that has helped the offensive line settle in, becoming one of the NFL's top performing units this season.

“[He’s] getting us in the right position at the right time because a lot of times we get different things sometimes during the game that we may not have seen or we haven’t seen in a while,” Wynn said of Eichenberg. “His ability to put us in the right spot has been good.”