The Miami Dolphins are set to finish up their first round of South Florida practices over the next few days before making their first road trip of the 2021 season — an extended stay in the Windy City, where the Dolphins will be locking horns with the Chicago Bears for several days before the team gets their first preseason action of the year in against Chicago.
These are exciting times — the Dolphins are going to get the chance to measure themselves against someone other than their teammates for the first time. And, a week from today, the dust will have settled and Miami can shift their focus on to the Atlanta Falcons and Week 2 of the preseason.
But with the upcoming clash with Chicago, the Dolphins should be mindful of a key developing storyline for the Bears and set their expectations appropriately:
The Bears’ offensive line has been shredded by injury.
In all, Chicago has spent the last few days down seven offensive linemen due to a series of ailments.
OL Lachavious Simmons leaves with an injury.
For context, this is a seventh-rounder from last season who was playing first-team RT because the Bears were down 6 linemen before practice even started.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) August 6, 2021
“Offensive tackle Lachavious Simmons, who has been taking snaps at right tackle with the first-team offense with Germain Ifedi (hip flexor) on the Physically Unable to Perform list, left practice with an apparent injury.
For those keeping track, the Bears are now down seven offensive linemen, which leaves just nine left to practices which isn’t exactly reassuring with preseason games on the horizon…Aside from (Germain) Ifedi, the Bears are down second-round rookie tackle Teven Jenkins (back), who hasn’t practiced the entirety of training camp, as well as guard James Daniels (quad), swing tackle Elijah Wilkinson (reserve/COVID-19 list), Borom and now Simmons.” — Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire
With the Bears’ line in such disarray, the Dolphins should be keeping a watchful eye on which of these players, if any, dial up a return to action in time for the joint practices. The Dolphins’ front seven is deep up front; and if they’re going against backups as starters, the expectation of performance during these joint practices should be set accordingly. Daniels, Jenkins, Ifedi and Wilkinson are all pencilled in as starters up front, leaving just Cody Whitehair among the team’s best starting five.
The team can tackle this once they’re in Chicago. But knowing the health and fitness of Chicago’s front should help carve out the expectations for Miami up front once they hit the practice field.
Leave a Reply