
MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins could be getting reinforcements soon.
Dolphins cornerback Nik Needham and offensive lineman Robert Jones have been designated to return Wednesday, according to coach Mike McDaniel, meaning they will begin a 21-day window to be activated onto the roster.
Shortly after McDaniel’s news conference, the two were indeed seen at Wednesday’s practice ahead of Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.
Needham is on the physically-unable-to-perform list due to a torn Achilles that cut his 2022 season short, and Jones suffered a knee injury during the preseason.
“Excited for both of them,” McDaniel said. “They’ve worked hard to get back to this spot, and that window is key that we will utilize to make sure that, within that, they’re ready to go. We don’t get ahead of ourselves.”
While Needham and Jones are returning to practice, running back Jeff Wilson Jr. is still not ready to return to drills after starting the season on injured reserve for midsection and finger injuries.
“We’re just working our way with Jeff,” he said. “We feel good about that.”
With Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead already known to be out for multiple weeks, as McDaniel said Monday, the coach doesn’t know yet if he will require an injured reserve stint, which automatically would put Armstead out for four weeks.
“He’s feeling pretty solid relative to where he was worried he would feel,” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins are monitoring the status of center Connor Williams, outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips and safety DeShon Elliott ahead of facing the Giants after all missed Miami’s loss to the Buffalo Bills with different injuries.
McDaniel said Williams is “crawling out of his skin to play” through his groin injury.
If Williams again can’t go, McDaniel indicated Liam Eichenberg would remain the team’s center after a rough outing in the loss to Buffalo.
“There were some really good things that happened in the game,” McDaniel said, showing a vote of confidence in his third-year lineman that transitioned to center ahead of the season. “There were some things he would like to have back.”
Phillips, who missed the Bills game with a groin injury, is progressing, according to McDaniel.
“I feel good about how he has handled a frustrating time for him,” the Miami coach said.
Elliott was held out with ankle and groin ailments. McDaniel said he told him: “The team needs you not to rush the process out of competitiveness, and he understood that. He feels solid, so we’ll see how it progresses through the week.”
McDaniel noted that wide receiver Erik Ezukanma’s neck injury isn’t believed to be season ending, but he doesn’t know a timeline yet.
Allen wins Player of Week
The AFC Offensive Player of the Week award belonged to the Dolphins for two of the first three weeks of the season.
On Wednesday, Bills quarterback Josh Allen won his second of the season following his perfect passer rating posted against the Dolphins in Buffalo’s 48-20 win.
Allen has now won the player of the week following five of his 11 career regular-season meetings with the Dolphins.
This story will be updated.