Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel announces during his Tuesday press conference that offensive lineman Connor Williams has torn his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season. Willams was mostly playing the position of center on the line and McDaniel said in his presser that they need backup plans when injuries like this happens according to Alanis Thames of The Associated Press.
“You don't necessarily replace that directly, however you also prepare a lot for contingencies for these types of scenarios,” McDaniel said.
Williams suffered the injury after only playing six snaps in the loss to the Tennessee Titans Monday night and was replaced by Liam Eichenberg. Right tackle Austin Jackson spoke to the media and gave his thoughts what would happen if the Dolphins center could not come back according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
“He’s a hell of a player; he’s very important to our offense,” Jackson said. “If he isn’t able to come back, we all have to show up and do our job.”
McDaniel was asked right after the loss to the Titans about the injury to Williams and knew then that he will know exactly what happened Tuesday. However, the Dolphins head coach even had the idea that it wouldn't be “the most positive news.”
“I think we’ll find out more tomorrow. Honestly, so much happened in that game from that point, I haven’t seen talked to the training staff about it as of yet,” McDaniel said. “But I know it would take a lot to keep him out. It’s probably not the most positive.”
Tagovailoa's view on the injury to Williams
Losing Williams is huge, not just for the offensive line, but for Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. There's no doubt that Tagovailoa was pressured more than he has been all season as he was on 44 percent of the plays he attempted a pass. It also doesn't help that superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill was not in the game for a good portion.
Tagovailoa said after the game that losing a player like Williams is tough since the players behind him haven't had a lot of snaps at the position. This was evident as when the Dolphins reached the red-zone early in the game, the aforementioned Eichenberg fumbled the snap to Tagovailoa and forced a turnover.
“Well, I think one of the toughest parts of that is a lot of those guys haven’t gotten reps at some of the positions. It’s not to say that we practice for situations like this to happen. It just so happened that Connor went down and we already had a couple of our guys out,” Tagovailoa said. “But needless to say, I know the guys up front will get better. I know the guys around me will get better. I will continue to get better. That’s the only way we can grow. We’ve just got to watch the tape. Tough loss tonight, but it’s going to linger like this if we don’t do anything about that.”
The Dolphins will have to adjust without Williams for the rest of the season as it remains to be seen if the team makes a move in free agency to address the need at center. They are currently 9-4 after the loss to Tennessee and look to bounce back next Sunday as they face the New York Jets.
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