Dolphins’ starting tackles not at practice; McDaniel updates it. And veteran lineman signs

Dolphins starting offensive tackles Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson were not spotted during the media availability portion of Wednesday’s practice, putting their status in question for Sunday’s game at Baltimore.

Jackson has an ankle injury. Armstead has a toe injury and missed practice partly because of the toe and partly because he received a veteran’s rest day.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins signed veteran right tackle Brandon Shell to their practice squad, according to his agent, former UM standout running back Melvin Bratton. Shell is expected to spend a couple of weeks on the practice squad learning the offense and getting into NFL shape.

Shell has appeared in 70 games and started 61, including 10 starts for Seattle last season. He spent his first four seasons with the Jets and the past two with the Seahawks.

McDaniel said Jackson’s ankle has improved since he left in the second quarter of Sunday’s game.

“It’s one of those things that you have to take day by day. There has been an improvement. As far as how much [improvement] there will be by game time, you’‘ll have to ask his ankle,” McDaniel said.

The ankle is not broken; the injury is believed to be a sprain.

The Dolphins used Greg Little at right tackle after Jackson left the Patriots game.

Armstead left Sunday’s game briefly before returning, but McDaniel stopped short of saying he would definitely play Sunday. He is receiving treatment for the toe injury.

Asked about Armstead, McDaniel said: “As far as this upcoming game, all of our guys are really working diligently to try to make it. That’s, I know, I know Terron has in his career has been able to fight through injuries with the best of them. So you know that they’re going to do their best. And we’ll obviously make the best decision later in the week on who gives us the best chance to win. Counting in all those issues with injuries and, and you know, what, what it kind of looks like so.”

If the Dolphins do not have either starting tackle, they could start Little at one tackle spot and use right guard Robert Hunt or left guard Liam Eichenberg at the other tackle spot.

Armstead has never played a full season in nine NFL seasons. He missed nine for the Saints last year.

Besides Armstead and Jackson, three other players weren’t seen at practice: linebacker Melvin Ingram (who is sometimes given a veteran’s rest day) and tight end Cethan Carter (concussion protocol) and running back Salvon Ahmed (heel) also were not spotted at Wednesday’s practice.

McDaniel said he’s “hoping” safety Eric Rowe will be ready soon; he missed the opener with a pectoral injury.

“As it stands, he’s limited,” McDaniel said. “We hope to see continued improvement during the course of the week.”

McDaniel addressed other issues in his Wednesday news conference:

▪ McDaniel said there “was no common theme” regarding the inconsistent running game Sunday against New England.

“The whole idea,” McDaniel said, “is not to have a ton of yards rushing every week but to have a productive offense and take advantage of what the defense is giving you. We started to run the game later in the game. I was encouraged by that.”

▪ Asked if it’s an advantage to the Ravens that Baltimore has two former Dolphins coaches on the staff (George Godsey and Rob Leonard), McDaniel said: “I used to be paranoid about that. But over time, you realize there are so many different nuances. This is a completely new year.”

▪ McDaniel, on cornerback Kader Kohou’s high production in 18 defensive snaps on Sunday: “I hope it shows you guys we’re not crazy working around here. I’m happy for him. He’s a cool dude who has an incredible story. I thought he was a lot more quiet than he really is. Every day he does stuff you get fired up about.”

▪ This week, defensive coordinator Josh Boyer faces an interesting decision about whether to use the exact same blitz-crazy strategy that worked so well against Baltimore last season. Will McDaniel give his opinion to Boyer on that?

“I want people to own everything as though they are the head coach of whatever position they’re doing,” McDaniel said. .”I see him as the head coach of the defense.... [It’s important that] we have a relationship. We talk through a lot of different things.

“When something happens, it’s on the pretense that I’m approving it. I’m very aware of his plan and our plan and that’s something as a working coaching staff, we work together in practice and the game so we’re always communicating.”

▪ What does McDaniel want to see from Tua Tagovailoa?

“Continued growth,” he said. “He hasn’t been satisfied at all. You’ve got to remember it’s his first year of the offense. You want to see him focus on the stuff he was frustrated with to get better. I want to see his confidence continue to grow.”