Dolphins Updated IR Tracker

The Miami Dolphins got back one of their players Tuesday when they activated wide receiver River Cracraft, and running back De'Von Achane might follow sooner rather than later.

The flip side, though, is that the team is about to run out of opportunities to bring back players from the injured reserve within the 2023 season.

Achane became the sixth player the Dolphins have designated to return, two short of the limit of eight moves — a player can be brought back twice but each move counts as one.

That will leave the Dolphins with two moves with eight weeks left in the 2023 regular season.

Besides Achane, the Dolphins have three players on injured reserve eligible to return this season — wide receiver Erik Ezukanma, running back Chris Brooks and guard Isaiah Wynn.

The players who previously were designated to return off IR and ultimately were activated were guard Robert Jones, running back Jeff Wilson Jr., cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tackle Terron Armstead.

Based on the rules dictating a player be forced to miss four games when put on IR, Ezukanma has been eligible to return to practice for a couple of weeks; Brooks will be eligible next week ahead of the Black Friday game against the New York Jets; and finally Wynn the following week ahead of the game against the Washington Commanders on Dec. 3.

The Dolphins no doubt will be judicious when it comes to the remaining moves to give themselves as much flexibility as possible down the stretch.

For those wondering about cornerback Nik Needham, who was activated off Reserve/PUP a few weeks ago, that didn't count against the eight-move limit as that rule applies only to IR and NFI.

WHAT THE 2022 DOLPHINS IR LIST LOOKED LIKE

So how does the Dolphins injury situation (IR specifically) compare to what happened last season?

The Dolphins ended up putting 11 players on injured reserve post-53 in 2022, including tackle Austin Jackson twice, but only three returned to the active roster: safety Clayton Fejedelem, Jackson and offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg.

Of course, part of the season for so few returns was that several of the injuries were severe, such as Nik Needham's torn Achilles, Brandon Jones' torn ACL and Emmanuel Ogbah's torn pec.

The complete list of players put on IR post-53 in 2022: Fejedelem (returned), Jackson (returned), TE Cethan Carter, OLB Trey Flowers, Needham, Brandon Jones, Eichenberg (returned), Ogbah, Jackson, RB Myles Gaskin, DT Justin Zimmer.

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