Kiko Alonso had thumb surgery today

Broken thumb - not sure if he'll play against the Cardinals.

As much as I've been critical of Alonso, he is CLEARLY our only decent LB.  Facing the Cards and David Johnson without him is, to put it mildly, not good.

I Think we are #32 at the Lb Position and it isn't even close, The Browns Lb's look like All-Pro's compared to the ones we Have

This is soooooo annoying. Actially just play big nickel the rest of the year. It can't get any worse.

I have to say I just love how we keep finding out literally every week that at least one Fins player is injured even though nobody actually sees these guys get hurt when they watch the games

I saw Alonso and Lippett leave the game. On TV, they mentioned both hand and ankle for Alonso, and concussion for Lippett. I assumed both players were out for the game, but before I knew it they were both back on the field. So who knows what the hell happened.

Because Dolphins, we'll probably hear nothing about Alonso the rest of the week, and then find out next week that he has to have his arm amputated.

I thought Mike Hull looked pretty good. Let Kiko sit.

I think Hewitt, Paysinger and Hull are all semi-decent run defenders...not great, but at least somewhat solid.  But, I think all three are terrible in pass coverage - and that's why teams will continue to exploit the middle of this defense in the passing game.  We're also weak at safety, so that makes the problem even worse.

The only way to counteract this weakness is to bring strong pressure. If they can't cover, blitz, a lot.

Degarmo wrote:The only way to counteract this weakness is to bring strong pressure.  If they can't cover, blitz, a lot.

Yep, that's always been my philosophy. If you can't cover anyone, you might as well blitz and try to make the QB uncomfortable.

Paysinger is horrible and don't expect him to be with Miami next year. There is no defending what happened last game. Miami definitely need to look into some LB for the next draft.

Paysinger is very good on STs and he can play the run.  But yeah...horrible in coverage. 

Joseph has to make adjustments on D...maybe bring in more DBs in coverage and limit what the LBs are asked to do.  That may hurt your run support, but something's gotta give - can't keep getting carved up in the passing game.

I agree with, I think it was Bird, who said maybe just go ahead and play big nickel.

I'd blitz the shit out of the guys who can't cover, particularly against the Cards. Palmer is a turnover machine when you start getting pressure on him.

This team has always had good/great LBs and fan favorites. Since Zach left it's been reach picks or FA busts. It's time to draft the next 10 year LB and D leader.

Dansby was a damn good MLB, but Philbin hated anyone with leadership ability.

Dansby was good in Miami, but rarely made any big, game-changing plays for the Phins.  Which is strange, because he was a big-time playmaker both before and after he was a Dolphin.

But yeah, it's time to stop throwing garbage at the LB position and actually use some draft picks for a change.

Which is strange, because he was a big-time playmaker both before and after he was a Dolphin.

Coyle was probably one reason but that only explains his 3rd year in Miami. It is puzzling.

Dansby was quite frequently misused here.  He still played well.

I know we all lived through it, but if you take a step back and look at our coaches through the lens of history, they sucked terribly.

Hull is probably the best backup that Miami has at LB at the moment. He did well yesterday covering for Alonso. IMO, he was a good steal in the draft.

Eh, I wasn't overly impressed with Hull.  The INT was a big play, but IMO it was more a case of Hull being in the right place at the right time more than him making a great play.  I thought he looked weak against the run and mediocre against the pass, but fortunately the Cardinals didn't try to attack the middle of the field and hardly used Johnson at all as a receiver.

The hamstring kept Alonso out of practice last week, and he was a late scratch Sunday against the Cardinals. The treatment has been going well, and he said this morning he intends to play Saturday at the Jets.

http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/12/12/miami-dolphins-lb-kiko-alonso-plans-to-play-vs-jets/

its early in the week, but this sounds hopeful.

Nice.  It will be good to have Alonso back.

rightchea wrote:Hull is probably the best backup that Miami has at LB at the moment. He did well yesterday covering for Alonso. IMO, he was a good steal in the draft.

He might have been, if he had actually been drafted

You know ah lerv you, mang