What the Dolphins’ first 2024 injury report reveals. And Dolphins personnel notes

A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Wednesday:

▪ Mysteries about several Dolphins were unwrapped on Wednesday afternoon when the first injury report of the season was released.

The reason behind cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s absence on Wednesday? A hamstring injury.

Ramsey has practiced only once in three weeks, and Mike McDaniel declined to say if he would play on Sunday against visiting Jacksonville (1 p.m., CBS).

The only other Dolphins, besides Ramsey, who didn’t practice at all on Wednesday were because of veteran’s rest: left tackle Terron Armstead, defensive lineman Calais Campbell and linebacker Jaelan Phillips, whose November Achilles’ injury also was acknowledged on the injury report.

Safety Jevon Holland (ankle) practiced fully.

▪ Eight Dolphins on the 53-man roster were limited on Wednesday:

Defensive tackle Benito Jones (knee), linebacker Anthony Walker (knee/vet rest), center Aaron Brewer (hand), safety Jordan Poyer (thumb/vet rest), linebacker Quinton Bell (thumb), linebacker David Long Jr. (veteran rest), cornerback Kendall Fuller (vet rest) and receiver Malik Washington (quadriceps).

Jones and Walker, who had missed a few weeks before returning to practice recently, said they’re fine now.

If Brewer is able to play Sunday, then Liam Eichenberg would shift back to right guard. Eichenberg said he has no clarity on which position he will be playing on Sunday but practiced at both center and guard on Wednesday.

▪ Payton Manning and Eli Manning will deliver their ManningCast alternate presentation of “Monday Night Football” for every Monday night game in October and November except the No. 11 Dolphins-Rams game.

The Mannings won’t be on the air when the Dolphins play the Titans on ESPN and Seattle plays Detroit on ABC on Monday night, Sept. 30.

The Manning brothers are doing ManningCast telecasts for 11 games in all.

All traditional MNF broadcasts will air on ESPN and/or ABC. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will announce the three ABC-only games and every other ESPN game.

Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick will call the Dolphins-Titans game on ESPN.

▪ When a reporter told fullback Alec Ingold that “my issue is third and short conversions,” Ingold said: “Yeah, it’s my issue too man. It’s my issue too.”

Why is Ingold rarely on the field in those situations?

“I think that’s really on me,” he said. “I have to inspire the play callers to be able to call that and dial it up.”

Last season, the Dolphins converted only 8 of 14 rushing attempts on 3rd and 1 or two, per Pro Football Focus. They were 5 for 11 on third and one rushing plays, a 45.5 success percentage that was worst in the league.

“Let’s inspire the guys so that when we’re running the ball, we don’t have to look anywhere else,” Ingold said. “We don’t have to do anything fancy. We can lean on guys. We can play smart, physical, elite technique football. That’s what we say, now we got to go out and execute.”

▪ One of the biggest potential shortcomings with this roster is linebacker pass coverage, and that’s of particular concern in Week 1 against Jacksonville tight end Evan Engram (who led all NFL tight ends with 114 receptions last season) and Buffalo, considering Josh Allen has a 138 passer rating (46 for 52, 491 yards, 5 TDs, no interceptions) when targeting Miami’s inside linebackers in their past five meetings.

David Long Jr. was the NFL’s worst inside linebacker in pass coverage last season, per Pro Football Focus, and had a 113 passer rating in his coverage area last season, with 509 passing yards permitted.

Jordyn Brooks, who replaced Jerome Baker, had a solid 93.2 passer rating in his coverage area last year, but Pro Football Focus’ Ryan Smith said that overall he has been a “big-time liability in coverage,” allowing 202 receptions (in 243 targets) for 2160 yards and 12 TDs over his four NFL seasons.

▪ How much is the Dolphins defense like the one used in Baltimore, where new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver coached the past two years?

“I think ‘Weave’ has done a great job putting his own flavor on it and really kind of tailoring it to the players and the talent that we have down here,” defensive line coach Zach Sieler said. “I’d say it’s a great scheme he’s come up with down here.”

Is it a concern that the starting secondary (Poyer, Holland, Ramsey, Fuller) has barely practiced together the past seven weeks?

Poyer downplayed that on Wednesday, saying “we rely on a lot of our experience. Just understanding our jobs and communicating.”