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The Miami Dolphins’ offensive line has been one of the more stable units on the roster all season long — Miami has seen six primary starters working within the five available spots on the roster through the first 12 games of the season. And while the offensive line play has not been overwhelming by any means, it sure is a nice change of pace from the 2019 Dolphins’ offensive line, which was a merry-go-round of talent that constantly saw new faces in new places and prevented the team from generating much in the way of chemistry all season long.
But Miami endured a big injury in the trenches in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals when offensive guard Ereck Flowers was rolled up on behind a Tua Tagovailoa scramble — which eventually led to the dreaded cart to make an appearance on the sideline to help Flowers to the locker room.
But despite the optics of Flowers’ injury, it appears as though Miami has avoided seeing their high-priced offensive guard succumb to a season -ending injury. It is yet to be determined how significant Flowers’ injury is, but reports indicate that Flowers will not be done for the season and we will see him back in the trenches for the Dolphins again soon.
Dolphins LG Ereck Flowers suffered an ankle sprain during Sunday’s game and didn’t return but he’s expected to play again this season, per source.
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) December 7, 2020
That’s a major win. Because for as frustrating as Miami’s struggles have been up front and in the run game this season, there’s little worse than playing musical chairs up front. That’s a one-way ticket to miscommunications and mental errors — and Miami has shown some signs of improvement in the run game over the last two weeks. Miami has rushed for 100+ yards as a team in consecutive games for just the third time in the Brian Flores era in their last two games. Granted, some of that success came with Flowers out of the game, but that is why Miami having six capable starters with varying ceilings as players between Flowers, Ted Karras, Jesse Davis and rookies Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt and Solomon Kindley is so important.
We’ll see how long Flowers is out of the picture, but we can rest easy knowing that there’s a capable fill-in who has logged starts elsewhere on the line in 2020.