Dolphins safety Jevon Holland reportedly to miss time with broken bone in hand

The Miami Dolphins seem to be running out of safeties for the second straight season.

Jevon Holland, a four-year starter for the Dolphins, left Sunday’s 15-10 win against the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter because of a hand injury.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday evening that Holland broke a bone in his hand and will miss “some time.”

The Dolphins starter was replaced by Elijah Campbell, who started a handful of games last season as Holland’s replacement when the four-year starter was sidelined by knee injuries.

Holland’s left hand was in a cast after the game, and there was discussion among him and his teammates that surgery might be needed.

The broken bone could force Holland to miss a few weeks; playing safety with a hand in a cast isn’t ideal. It can be done, but wouldn’t be advantageous from a tackling and turnover standout. The good thing is that the Dolphins have a bye next week, which should allow Holland’s hand time to heal.

Miami was already playing without Jordan Poyer, who sustained a shin injury in last week’s loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Marcus Maye replaced Poyer as the Dolphins’ starting strong safety, starting his 78th NFL game, and led the team with nine tackles.

Outside of Campbell, the Dolphins have Nik Needham and rookie Jordan Colbert on the practice squad. Needham was elevated to the game day roster on Sunday and contributed mainly on special teams.

Last season the Dolphins had a steady rotation of injuries to safeties, which includes Holland, who was sidelined or limited for eight games because of a double knee injury he suffered in Miami’s Black Friday win against the Jets.

Dolphins get Smith more involved

Plenty was made of the Jonnu Smith package of plays this offseason, but the Dolphins struggled to implement the H-back/tight end- centric plays into the offensive in the first four games.

Miami’s lackluster offensive output the past three weeks seemingly motivated coach Mike McDaniel to make Smith a focal point against the Patriots because the former Florida International standout, who was one of the Dolphins’ top offseason signings, was targeted eight times Sunday.

“I’m just trying to find a way to contribute and put us in situations where we can score points,” Smith turned those eight targets into five receptions, which produced 62 yards. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done today.”

Finding new starters on defense

Even though the Dolphins opened the game with Duke Riley as the new starter in the defensive front, he came off the field after the very first snap and was replaced by Tyus Bowser, who was added to the team last week after being claimed from the Seahawks practice squad.

Bowser and Chop Robinson, the Dolphins’ 2024 first-round pick, handled the majority of the right edge rusher workload in the first game Miami played this season without Jaelen Phillips, who suffered a season ending right knee injury in last week’s loss to the Titans.

Robinson finished the game with three tackles and one quarterback hit. Bowser produced one tackle.

Beckham wasn’t much of a factor

Odell Beckham Jr., a 10-year veteran who spent the first month of the season sidelined while on the physically unable to perform list with a troublesome knee, played in his first game for the Dolphins.

Beckham participated in his first couple of practices since being signed last May, and even though he had existing chemistry with quarterback Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, he didn’t bring down a reception in his handful of plays. Beckham was targeted twice and one of those passes resulted in an interception.