Xavien Howard ‘week-to-week’ with knee injury

The Miami Dolphins could be without a huge piece of their defensive secondary on Sunday as they face Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. On Wednesday, head coach Adam Gase confirmed cornerback Xavien Howard is week-to-week with a knee injury he sustained last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. The injury occurred on the play in which Howard intercepted Bills quarterback Josh Allen for the second time.

Howard did not practice on Wednesday. He missed one snap against the Bills, but was able to finish the game with the issue.

“He’ll be week to week,” head coach Adam Gase said. “We’re going to have to see how it goes the rest of the week. I’ll probably know more towards the end of the week whether or not he’s got a shot or not.

“He’s one of our best players, if not our best player on that side of the ball,” Gase told the media after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ve got to make some adjustments, if we have to, on defense. Our guys have to step up. If [Howard] can’t go, you’re not going to replace him.”

Dolphins nickel cornerback Bobby McCain, who would likely move outside if Howard is not available on Sunday, told the media of Howard, “First off, he should be fine. He’s having a great year. With him taking the day off, you see a lot of things and we have a lot of guys who can play a lot of different spots. Hopefully we will have him back through the end of the week and he can come along and feel a little better. But, it’s not really challenging, it’s just we’ve got to step up and finish the week out. Hopefully we can get him back on Thursday or Friday.”

He added, “He’s doing fine, he’s doing fine. He’ll be fine. He’ll be just fine, I promise.”

The Dolphins added cornerback Dee Delaney in a waivers claim on Tuesday, bringing the rookie to Miami from Jacksonville. They placed tight end A.J. Derby on injured reserve in that move. Delaney has appeared in two games with the Jacksonville Jaguars this year, primarily working on special teams. He was an undrafted free agent out of The Citadel (undergraduate) and the University of Miami (graduate) and had bounced between the Jaguars’ practice squad and active roster all season. He was waived this week to make roster space for running back Leonard Fournette who completed a suspension.

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