Miami Dolphins OT Terron Armstead Status Unknown, But Encouraging Sign Friday

Don’t count out Terron Armstead just yet.

Not long after Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said he wasn’t ready to dismiss the idea of Armstead being able to play in the must-win season finale against the New York Jets despite his ongoing knee issues, the four-time Pro Bowl tackle was spotted at practice for the first time this week.

This is perhaps mildly surprising, but most definitely welcome news after Armstead pulled himself out of the game against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, the second time he’d done that in a few weeks.

Armstead didn’t practice either Wednesday or Thursday, following the same pattern as last week when he didn’t work until the Friday practice when he was limited.

This is what McDaniel said before practice about whether he was holding out hope that Armstead would be able to play against the Jets: “Just based upon experience, it would be unfair to really dismiss his ability to dig deep and do stuff for not only himself but for the team. So I’ll always leave that open. He’s a hard guy for me to rule out, specifically when he doesn’t throw in the towel. I’m hopeful. I wouldn’t say I’m pessimistic nor optimistic. It’s probably gonna take all the way till that hour and a half time frame before the game before we know for sure.”

If Armstead indeed is able to start, then rookie second-round pick Patrick Paul likely would line up at right tackle in place of veteran Kendall Lamm, who was placed on injured reserve this week because of a back injury he said will require surgery.

Without Armstead, the Dolphins likely would use Paul at left tackle and Jackson Carman at right tackle, the same lineup they used in the Week 15 at Houston.

With Armstead back, the only players missing from practice were linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. and wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Hill was absent because of an illness.

Walker will miss a second consecutive game because of a knee injury. Tyrel Dodson will start in his place again; he won AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his week in Walker’s absence in the victory against Cleveland.