MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel confirmed Monday that edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah was lost for the season with a torn triceps suffered during the victory over the Cleveland Browns.
“For the individual, it sucks because he is one of the type of veteran players that didn’t take his investment by the organization lightly,” McDaniel said, referring to the four-year, $65 million extension Ogbah received in free agency this past offseason.
Ogbah, 29, had nine sacks and 12 passes defensed last season, when he victimized quarterbacks by batting down passes at the line of scrimmage. But this season, he had just one sack, 11 total tackles, seven QB hits, one tackle for loss and no passes defensed.
“He’s just had hiccup after hiccup,” McDaniel said. “Just unfortunate luck this season.”
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McDaniel said on the second-quarter play in which Ogbah was injured, he set the edge against the right tackle and remained in the game for another play before having to come out.
“I feel terrible for him,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said there was no change in the status of linebacker Trey Flowers, who might have helped fill the void left by Ogbah. Flowers has been on injured reserve with a foot injury and will remain out for the foreseeable future.
Although right tackle Austin Jackson was active for the Browns game, he did not play. The Dolphins were hoping that would be the case so they could ease him back after the bye. Jackson has been out since Week 1 with an ankle problem.
“We felt like if we could get through this game, we just loved his progress and he could not have a setback, we would be out of the woods as best we can control with that stuff,” McDaniel said. “So he was there for an emergency and we were hoping not to have to play him and we were fortunate not to.”
No plans to replace Jason Sanders
Kicker Jason Sanders has endured a slump, including a missed 29-yard field-goal attempt last week and two extra-point misses against the Browns. But the Dolphins aren’t in a rush to stage a kicking competition with free agents, McDaniel said.
“He’s given me no reason to believe that he won’t get the things corrected,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel hedged it somewhat, pointing out that the team always has contingencies in mind in case of injuries.
“First and foremost, Jason holds himself to a high degree of scrutiny and has high demands of himself so he expects more,” McDaniel said. “But it’d be one thing if he’d given me any reason to think that he can’t get it corrected. So until he proves otherwise, we’re feeling good about where we’re at with him.”