MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The best news for the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday? Offensive tackle Terron Armstead got through his first practice in months unscathed.
Armstead is on the ultimate maintenance plan this year after missing 11 games due to injury the last two seasons.
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He didn’t do any on-field work during the spring or the first five days of training camp. And even on Tuesday, his participation was limited to individual and combination work.
The Dolphins will continue taking it slow with Armstead in Year 12 to mitigate the chance of injury — both now and when the games start.
“I’ve come to find that throughout the years, it gets to a point in camp where you’re like, ‘All right, I’m ready,'” Armstead said after practice.
“So until you feel that you gotta get in team [drills], you gotta hit, gotta do live [drills], win a few blocks, lose a few blocks and know the adjustments. It’s just a feel for me,” he added. “That I know where I’m at in pass pro. My hand time is right. My eyes are right. I know in the run game, I get my fits right. That I’m ready.”
Armstead has plenty of time to get to that point. The Dolphins’ regular-season opener is still more than a month off. And even if he does appear in the preseason, it very likely will not be until the exhibition finale on Aug. 23.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Dolphins put him at risk in next week’s joint practice with the Atlanta Falcons, given he missed the 2023 opener due to an ankle injury suffered in a joint practice against the Houston Texans last camp.
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That set the tone for a season that was so frustrating for Armstead, he contemplated retirement.
“If there was anything he could have done, he would have done it,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said on Tuesday. “He went above and beyond. His injuries, he played through until he knew it was going to compromise his play.
“He was battling and really served as a point of inspiration for a lot of guys in how to attack a season and try to make the best for the team. No, I wouldn’t say that there was anything he should have done. In hindsight, you’re always learning about your body, so you can try different tricks. But there was nothing he left on the table.”
On Tuesday, Armstead said that dealing with injuries has been the “most challenging part of my career, but I’ve been able to have a career in spite of dealing with physical issues.”
“Like I said, I know what I need,” he added. “So, as I get in and start doing team [drills] and my hands are right, they’re feeling good first day, second day, I’m ready.”