Dolphins Put Two Players on Injured Reserve

The Miami Dolphins defense depth took a hit during their Week 6 loss against the Minnesota Vikings

The Miami Dolphins placed cornerback Nik Needham on injured reserve Wednesday in a move that was expected, but the unfortunate development is that he was joined by veteran edge defender Trey Flowers.

Both players were injured during the Dolphins' 24-16 loss against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, with Needham going down with an Achilles injury and Flowers leaving the game with a foot injury.

While Needham will be out for the season, there has been no word on the severity of Flowers' injury — though it's obviously serious enough to cause him to miss at least four games.

As it turned out, Flowers was injured on his only snap of the game, a play that ended with his pressure in the end zone forcing an incompletion by Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Flowers was listed as questionable at the time he left the game before eventually being ruled out after halftime.

Signed in late August, the eight-year NFL veteran appeared in four of the Dolphins' first six games, though he played only 65 total snaps.

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WHO IS ON IR AND WHO DIDN'T GO ON IR FOR THE DOLPHINS

There was good news regarding IR on Wednesday, and it was the fact that QB Skylar Thompson did not land on the list after sustaining a thumb injury in the second quarter of the Minnesota game in his first NFL start.

“Yes, that would be a good sign," head coach Mike McDaniel said before practice Wednesday. "It was more positive than negative overall (in terms of the tests done on Thompson's thumb). It was definitely not the worst case. I think he’s probably doing jumping jacks today with (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) Dave Puloka. It’s probably not serious. (laughter) But he’ll get back into action sooner than later.”

Needham and Flowers became the fourth and fifth players the Dolphins have put on IR since the cuts to the 53-man roster, giving them the ability to return in 2022.

The first was safety Clayton Fejedelem, who was activated in time for the Week 5 game against the New York Jets. The others are tackle Austin Jackson, who was designated for return last week after going on IR with an ankle injury, and tight end Cethan Carter, who still has two games he has to miss before being eligible to come back from a concussion.
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