During Sunday’s big come-from-behind victory of the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins veteran left tackle Terron Armstead sat by himself on the bench.
With a towel over his head and a somber look on his face, Armstead gave thumbs up to his teammates, who were giving him encouragement. His face, however, told a much different story. It appeared that Armstead’s season, and perhaps his career, was over.
Armstead knew something was wrong when he came off the field, and as the game progressed, it became clear that he wasn’t going back into the game. The Dolphins’ veteran was clearly dejected.
Monday’s are never good for injured players as they await the results of medical tests that could decide their season and future. Victory Monday for the Dolphins turned out to be a small Victory Monday for Armstead as well.
Dolphins tackle Terron Armstead avoids a significant injury
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel informed the press that Armstead’s injury is not season-ending and will not require surgery, just rest.
“Yeah, it’s a rest thing. I think you might have seen his frustration level to try to contribute in this particular game and it’s something that he can’t control, so you talk to him about – I’ve been very proud of how he’s handled all of it because he’s probably at a new level of maturity to handle these types of things based upon his necessity,” said McDaniel.
“I think we’ll let it cool down a little bit and what that means for time moving forward, I’m going to make sure that my communication is steadfast with him, and we’ll play out all the scenarios with our group.”
Armstead has stayed relatively healthy this year despite nagging injuries, but nothing has kept him off the field for more than a few series. However, he will likely miss this week’s game against the Houston Texans.
The Dolphins have been taking it easy with their top left tackle, but with his age, injury history, and number of years in the league, it was bound to happen.
Miami needs to take it easy with him, and if that means benching him for the rest of the year, then they should. If the Dolphins do get into the postseason, they will need him.