Is this the end? Dolphins' Frank Gore carted off after ankle injury

Miami Dolphins running back Frank Gore, who has proven to be a necessary part of the offense even at 35 years old, was carted off the field in the first half of Sunday’s 41-17 loss to Minnesota Vikings with an ankle injury.

Gore was hurt at the end of the first quarter, when he was taken down by Minnesota’s Anthony Barr at the end of a 10-yard carry on second-and-8.

Medical tent, then cart

Gore was playing in his 125th consecutive game on Sunday, as he has shown remarkable durability for a player who entered the NFL in 2005 with serious health questions after two torn ACLs at the University of Miami.

Gore struggled to get to the sideline after the injury; first his teammates helped him up and supported him, and then team medical staff helped. After a few minutes in the sideline medical tent a team trainer took his helmet and put it away; not long after, he was placed on the cart and brought back to the locker room.

He didn’t return to the game and was later seen leaving the locker room in a walking boot.

A five-time Pro Bowler, Gore was on track for another season with 1,000 yards from scrimmage, something he has done for 12 straight seasons entering this one.

With 722 rushing yards this season, Gore has 14,734 for his career, good for fourth-most all time. Only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders are ahead of him. He’s also fifth all time in yards from scrimmage, with 18,544.

Gore signed a one-year deal with Miami earlier this year, and is leading the team in carries, rushing yards and yards per carry. He said this past week he’s open to playing a 15th NFL season in 2019 because he still has passion for the game and because he has been healthy. Hopefully the latter part of that sentence hasn’t drastically changed.

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