Injured Dolphins — including Brandon Jones, Ogbah, Needham — update status, timetables

Three young Dolphins defensive backs who sustained season-ending injuries said Monday that they expect to be ready for the start of next season, but their timetables are fluid because of the serious nature of their injuries.

Safety Brandon Jones, who was lost for the season when he sustained an ACL injury to his left knee in Week 7 against Pittsburgh, said “training camp, I should be — praying — full go by then.”

If he’s not, should be ready for the start of next season?

“Hoping so, yes,” he said.

He said he hopes to at least be running by OTAs in May, even though he likely won’t be ready for full participation at that point.

“The whole process has been tough, not being able to be out there with those guys,” he said. “I enjoy playing with them. Being isolated with this injury has been super tough from a physical and mental standpoint.”

At the time of his injury, Jones had two sacks and a team-high 49 tackles in 334 snaps. His strip sack of Patriots quarterback Mac Jones in the opener was returned by Melvin Ingram III for a touchdown,

Jones, one of the NFL’s best blitzing safeties, has seven sacks during the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, cornerback Nik Needham — who was lost for the season in Week 6 due to a torn Achilles tendon — said the timeline for his return is “looking like early training camp. That’s what we’re hoping for. Or the end of July. Got to keep strengthening it and keep rehabbing it and see where we’re at.”

Needham, who will be an unrestricted free agent in March, said he and the organization have talked and “they said they would love to have me back here. I said I would love to be back here as well. So hoping everything works out well, and I will be back here next year.

“Look forward to that. I know it’s a business as well, and things may not turn out as you want it. So we’ll see.”

Needham might have secured a very good contract had he stayed healthy. He realizes the injury comes with financial consequences.

“I was thinking about [that] these past three months,” he said. “Just came to accept that. Got to prove myself again. This year will be another prove-it year. I’m ready for that. Just got to get healed up and be 100 percent. I think I’ll be ready to handle that and hopefully do what I did last year and not have to worry about any of that.”

Needham said this season has been “one of the toughest years I’ve had in my life. Never had a season-ending injury. Watching the team on the couch was very hard for me. But I still enjoy watching my guys go out there and compete. Every game, I was wishing I could be out there with them. It was definitely tough.”

Needham started five of the six games he appeared in this season and played 78 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps through those six games. He played 60 and 54 percent of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps during the two previous seasons.

A third young defensive back, cornerback Trill Williams, is recovering from a torn ACL sustained in the final minutes of the Dolphins’ preseason opener against Tampa Bay.

Williams spent the season on injured reserve after playing four defensive snaps and 15 special teams snaps in 2021. The Dolphins see potential in Williams, who went undrafted in 2021 partly because of an injury that sidelined him part of his final season at Syracuse. He was signed by Miami in May 2021, days after he failed a physical with the Saints.

Even though Williams would like to be ready for OTAs, “most likely I’ll probably sit out and wait until training camp.”

This season, he said, “was real tough. This was the second time I suffered this injury. The first time was in high school. It was tough being in high school and watching teammates play without me.

“At this level, it was super hard watching them play without me. Even watching them play against the Bills, I almost cried watching them play. Life goes on. Only thing I can do is come back strong for camp next season.”

Both Jones and Williams are under contract for next season.

MORE INJURY UPDATES

Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who was lost for the season when he sustained a torn triceps Nov. 13 against Cleveland, said he hoped to return this season if the team had extended its playoff run.

“I was pushing to play if we had made that big run,” he said. “Unfortunately it didn’t happen. Now I’ve got to take my time to rest it up. I should be good by March, April. I should be good by OTAs.”

Ogbah signed a four-year, $65 million contract with the Dolphins in March and had only 11 tackles and a sack in nine games and three starts, after producing nine sacks in both 2020 and 2021 and leading the league in batted passes those two seasons.

The Dolphins would gain no cap relief by cutting Ogbah but would gain relief by trading him. But they might decide to keep him — perhaps with a restructured deal — with the hope that he recaptures his form of the previous two seasons.

“I know my team depended on me to be out there,” he said. “Unfortunately I got hurt. It’s definitely extra motivation to go out there and show why they paid me and do what I do.”

What is the potential of a pass rush with Ogbah, Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb?

“Endless,” he said. “We didn’t get a chance to taste it for a full season but we should be good next year.”

▪ Left guard Liam Eichenberg expressed immense frustration with the hand injury that sidelined him for Sunday’s playoff game. His hand was in a cast and arm in a sling on Monday.

Eichenberg missed seven games with a knee injury sustained Oct. 30 against Detroit, returned to play every offensive snap Jan. 1 against New England, then played most of the Jets regular-season finale.

The injury “happened in the [Jets] game and then Monday night I knew something was wrong and Tuesday I had surgery,” he said.

He said he doesn’t believe he’s permitted to discuss the precise injury or how it happened but said if he had played against Buffalo, “I would have been useless out there. It sucks.”

He said he’s “extremely frustrated. I’m going to keep working and get my hand healthy. That’s the biggest thing. I’ll be ready for OTAs. Hopefully in the next month it will be OK. That’s the plan.”

He’s under contract for two more seasons.

▪ Among other injured Dolphins who spoke, tight end Adam Shaheen confirmed a torn ACL kept him out this season.

A knee injury rescinded his trade to Houston in August. He will be a free agent in March and said “I love it here,” he said. “Never say never” about staying.

▪ Brandon Shell, who started 11 games at tackle, missed the playoff game with a sprained knee and ankle.

“It’s tough because you put in the work to get to that place and not to be able to play was tough,” he said. “I’m proud how the guys fought, how Rob Hunt stepped in, how Rob Jones stepped in, how Lester Cotton stepped in.”

Shell will be a free agent in March and said: “I hope to be back, but you know how that goes.”

Is starting important to him? “I’m willing to help whatever team I go to, if it’s here, if it’s another team. Willing to step in and play my role.”

▪ Monday was the only day that players on injured reserve were permitted to speak this season. Byron Jones, who spent the season on the physically unable to perform list, was not in the locker room during that media access period. Nor was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who remains in concussion protocol.

Here’s my Monday piece with a look at the Dolphins’ cap situation, their impending free agents, their draft inventory and more.