The Dolphins may be without left tackle Terron Armstead for an extended time. Armstead suffered a quadriceps injury during Miami’s Black Friday victory over the Jets, and according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the veteran blocker could miss multiple games as a result.
Unfortunately, this is familiar territory for Armstead, who missed the first two games of the 2023 season after an assortment of injuries sustained in an August practice delayed his ongoing recovery from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery. Armstead returned to the lineup in Week 3 but exited the Dolphins’ Week 4 loss to the Bills due to a new knee injury that he sustained in the second quarter of that contest. He was subsequently placed on injured reserve and was forced to miss Miami’s next four games as a result.
Armstead played a full complement of snaps in Weeks 9 and 11 — the Dolphins had a Week 10 bye — before running into the quadriceps problem in Week 12. Head coach Mike McDaniel, who classified Armstead’s status as “week to week,” has said that the injury is not as serious as the quad ailment that brought a premature end to fellow offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn‘s season.
Now 32, Armstead has never been healthy for an entire season in his 11-year career, though he continues to perform at a high level. In admittedly limited action in 2023, the four-time Pro Bowler has not surrendered a sack or QB hit, and he has earned a strong 75.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (including a terrific 81.2 pass-blocking mark). As such, his absence will be missed as the 8-3 Dolphins seek to stay atop the AFC East and continue their push for the No. 1 overall seed in the conference.
Kendall Lamm, who has worked at LT in relief of Armstead this season, will once again step into that role if he is healthy enough to do so. Lamm is dealing with a back injury, though he was at least able to finish out the final few snaps of Friday’s matchup with the Jets when Miami was dealing with an OL shortage.
Lamm, 31, has already started six games this season, his highest total since he started 13 contests as the Texans’ primary right tackle in 2018. Unsurprisingly, he has not played as well as Armstead, having yielded three sacks and 13 total pressures. Still, his 65.9 overall PFF grade positions him as a starting-caliber tackle this year.
Death, taxes, and Armstead missing games. Guy is a huge weakling.