The Miami Dolphins have safety Louis Delmas out for the season with an injury and now Cedric Thompson, Walt Aikens and Michael Thomas are competing to see if they can take the starting job and this comes as the team is hopeful that DeVante Parker will be ready to return Week 1 after having surgery on his foot.
The Dolphins secondary has been beat up over the past couple seasons and now Delmas will be out for the year after suffering a serious injury. According to NFL.com, Delmas suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in a joint practice with the Carolina Panthers. The report says that it was a non-contact injury and that Delmas had to be carted off the field after going down. Delmas also tore his ACL last year and was placed on injured reserve.
Last season Delmas played in 13 games and had 60 total tackles with two fumble recoveries and an interception return for a TD in his first season with Miami. Delmas has suffered ACL injuries twice in the span of less than a year and the team now will have him out for the season. Omar Kelly reports in the Sun-Sentinel that Walt Aikens is going to get the first chance to replace Delmas and that the team will look at Aikens, Michael Thomas and Cedric Thompson as options to replace the safety.
Reshad Jones is the other starting safety for the Dolphins and according to Kelly. Joe Philbin said the team would go with the player who fits best with Jones in the secondary and now there are three games left in the preseason to see who steps up. The Panthers and Dolphins will play on the schedule next and Aikens comes in with a chance to win the job after being a rookie last season. Aikens had some struggles last season and now he has the chance to step up and into a starting job.
Kelly writes that Thompson started two games last season before getting injured and he also could have a chance to win the job. MiamiDolphins.com reports that Thomas and Aikens had "extensive work" in practice at the position after Delmas went down with the injury and whoever plays better against the Panthers likely will take the lead in the competition. The defense should be much better up front with Ndamukong Suh coming in and now the team has questions about the back end unit in the secondary.
The Dolphins secondary has some questions and on offense the wide receiver position will be one of the most intriguing to watch. The Dolphins have a deep group with Jarvis Landry coming back after a strong rookie season, while Kenny Stills and Greg Jennings are offseason additions. The team has DeVante Parker as a rookie and the team hopes he will be ready for Week 1 after having foot surgery. Stills comes in after Wallace was traded and the team also had Rishard Matthews on the roster.
Check here for more on the Dolphins, the injury to Delmas and more on Parker.