Already depleted in their secondary, the Dolphins placed Cornell Armstrong on injured reserve on Wednesday and intend to sign a nickel cornerback, coach Mike McDaniel said.
McDaniel did not disclose the cornerback being signed.
The Dolphins auditioned three of them on Tuesday, and none have NFL experience: undrafted rookie Ethan Robinson (who was released by the Dolphins in late August), 2024 Bills sixth-round pick Daequan Hardy and Myles Purchase, who went undrafted out of Iowa State this past April and spent five months with the Chargers before being released from their practice squad Sept. 30.
Miami has one cornerback on its practice squad: Isaiah Johnson, who is more of a boundary corner than a nickel corner.
Armstrong, who sustained a hamstring injury in Sunday’s loss to Carolina, is the team’s second nickel cornerback on IR, joining Jason Marshall Jr., who also is recovering from a hamstring injury.
After Armstrong’s injury, the Dolphins used safeties as slot cornerbacks, including Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Another cornerback, Storm Duck, is eligible to return from injured reserve but hasn’t yet fully healed from an ankle injury sustained in the opener. He’s not yet ready to practice.
Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders, who was eligible to return from injured reserve last week, also isn’t ready to return from his hip injury.
But receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., who was poached from the Saints’ practice squad last week, will practice this week after missing last week with a knee ailment. Wilson was signed to take Tyreek Hill’s roster spot after Hill sustained a season-ending knee injury.
Meanwhile, linebacker Tyrel Dodson remains in concussion protocol. KJ Britt replaced Dodson during the Carolina game, but McDaniel said Willie Gay Jr. will receive consideration for Dodson’s role as well.
The Dolphins will decide late in the week how they want to allocate snaps between Britt and Gay, opposite Jordyn Brooks.
McDaniel addressed other issues heading into Sunday’s home game against the Chargers (1 p.m., CBS-4):
▪ On the team’s struggling rookies: “We adjust each week. We’ve had some appropriate adjustments….We adjust reps. We do what’s best available to the team right then….When you are correcting something you hope it gets corrected.”
▪ McDaniel said the run defense isn’t the fault of one person. Seventh round pick Zeek Biggers, the one defensive tackle who hasn’t played, is improving, McDaniel said.
▪ McDaniel praised Justin Herbert’s ability “to extend plays and while doing that make the defense cover the entire field.”