On a weekend ravaged by injuries around the NFL, the Miami Dolphins weren't immune. The team lost 31-28 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but the bigger loss for the moment might be in the secondary. Byron Jones, the big money free agent the team made the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, left the game in the first quarter with a groin injury and did not return. Jones is easily one of the best shutdown corners in the league and, in his absence, the Dolphins struggled to halt a red-hot Josh Allen.
Head coach Brian Flores must now reload and ready to visit the Jacksonville Jaguars, and likely without Jones in tow. In a Monday morning call with media, Flores didn't sound hopeful for the availability of Jones in Week 3.
"He'd have to heal pretty quickly," Flores said of the one-time Pro Bowler, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
The good news is Jones has never been labeled an injury-prone player, and actually quite the opposite. He was a resident iron man in his five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, missing only three games after the team selected him in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. That half-decade stretch also included four consecutive seasons of zero games missed, and while the severity of his current groin injury is to be determined, it's unlikely to cost him significant time this season -- barring an additional and unpleasant update in the near future.
Jones was signed to the Dolphins this offseason on a five-year, $82 million deal to be the team's top corner, and he's fired out of the gate in that regard. In the season opener, he allowed only one reception for six yards on 23 coverage snaps -- per PFF -- to help hold the New England Patriots to 21 points. The Dolphins went on to lose that game, but it was mostly due to the offense's inability to score more than 11 points at Gillette Stadium.
Jones' status going forward appears to be week-to-week, but it sounds like the Dolphins are drawing a line through his name for the trip to North Florida.
