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With the Miami Dolphins preparing for a quick turnaround Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills after winning the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they have some key updates regarding their star running backs. With originally having worrisome news surrounding Dolphins running backs Raheem Mostert (chest) and De'Von Achane (ankle), the former is out while the latter is expected to be a game-time decision according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Jackson would mention in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Miami head coach Mike McDaniel would say on the topic of Achane that “we will see how it plays out” about the sophomore running back. In terms of Mostert, McDaniel would say that “his injury, not many people play with” which was a chest issue he suffered early in the Dolphins' win over the Jaguars.
The injury for Mostert does put into perspective how he only had six carries in Sunday's win for nine yards while Achane led Miami with 10 to go along with 24 yards and a score as he also caught seven passes for 76 yards through the air. However, if both backs can not go, one would have to think it will be Jeff Wilson Jr. who had key runs Sunday and rookie Jaylen Wright, who was inactive, that will lead the backfield.
Losing Mostert would be a huge deal since he was absolutely dynamite last season where he recorded 21 total touchdowns to go along with 1,012 yards on the ground. If there is a positive, it's that Achane was seen practicing Wednesday “in what appeared to be a lighter walkthrough session” according to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.
De’Von Achane practiced today in what appeared to be a lighter walkthrough session.
Watched him go thru all RB drills & reps including changing direction/catching passes on his ankle. No red jersey or clear visual limitations from media viewing. pic.twitter.com/4QvxKt53Jd
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) September 11, 2024
Dolphins preparing without Raheem Mostert, possibly De'Von Achane
Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith spoke to the media Tuesday and brought up the injuries to both Mostert and Achane and spoke about the significance of the quick turnaround per the team's transcripts.
“It’s just a short week, there’s a process for everyone,” Smith said. “Everything happens fast, so we’re just working through with all the guys. Each guy is going through a process on the turnaround, so we know it’s going to be a full process for each guy as we get ready for Thursday.”
While Mostert's statistics were great, Achane was as well where he emerged as one of the more explosive running backs in the league where he rushed for 800 yards while averaging a whopping 7.8 yards per carry. Smith would be asked about what the preparation is like when the status of the two top running backs are in doubt which he credited their “offseason program” as being built for that.
“I think it kind of goes into the whole offseason program and the way we approach things,” Smith said. “So that way we try and be versatile with all the guys and make sure we can understand where they can fit with the roster, and when we have any issues and guys got to step up in different roles and stuff like that, we have a good feeling of knowing what they can do. And that’s the good thing about this football team; we have a bunch of guys that are very willing to do whatever is necessary and have complete skill sets. Whatever happens when we go to Thursday, we’ll have a plan to be able to get ourselves in the best position for competing on Thursday versus Buffalo.”
