The Miami Dolphins were already facing the prospect of potentially having their offensive line shaken up with the lingering foot injury to OG Solomon Kindley — but now the Dolphins are facing the prospect of perhaps the biggest offensive line shakeup to date this season. The team announced yesterday that they’ve placed veteran offensive lineman Jesse Davis on the reserve/COVID-19 list; placing his availability for Week 12 against the New York Jets in doubt. The Dolphins, who have seen several player brushes with the virus in recent weeks between the ongoing case of Christian Wilkins and the close call with Kyle Van Noy, will need to stay flexible with their plans up front as the team draws closer to their Sunday showdown with the Jets.
Davis should not be considered a lock to miss Sunday’s game — if he has been flagged by protocols due to contact tracing, there is a chance Miami will have time to activate him off the list if he shows no signs of illness and does not test positive for the coronavirus between now at Saturday’s 4PM EST deadline. That’s the same path that Van Noy endured in Week 10 ahead of Miami’s contest with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Given some of the Dolphins’ struggles along the offensive line, a shakeup may not be the worst thing in the world — but no one should want a change in personnel to come under these circumstances. Davis is a valuable piece of Miami’s puzzle thanks in large part to his positional versatility.
If he’s inactive for Sunday’s game and Miami is also without Kindley up front, the Dolphins will be forced into calling rookie tackle Robert Hunt back to the starting lineup and presumably charge 2019 3rd-round pick Michael Deiter with playing right guard for the Dolphins against the Jets. Deiter started 15 games for the Dolphins in 2019 before the massive waves of reinforcements this offseason pushed him front the starting lineup.
Cases like this are why Miami was so wise to aggressively attack the offensive line the way they did last offseason — and if the play in 2020 is any indication, they may not be done tinkering yet. But we look forward to Davis clearing protocols and resuming whatever role he’ll have in Miami’s line sooner rather than later.