Dolphins’ biggest roster battle takes another frustrating turn after Lions win as contender for starting job loses reps over factor out of his control
The Dolphins are having a hard enough time settling on a group of starting cornerbacks but the injury bug insists on complicating the matter even more.
The Miami Dolphins‘ bid to close in on a group of starting cornerbacks came no closer to a conclusion on Saturday afternoon — at least not in any of the ways the team was probably hoping for. Miami entered Saturday’s preseason contest against the Detroit Lions with an intention of sitting their prominent starters; a decision that included names like Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, Jordyn Brooks, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and others.
One room that had all hands on deck? You guessed it, the cornerbacks. But instead of Miami’s hopes of rolling this group out providing an elementary, eye-opening performance, Miami’s luck broke the opposite direction — with another potential candidate to start appearing going down with an injury.
Veteran cornerback Ethan Bonner pulled up along the sideline after defending a crossing route against the Lions and reached back to grab the back of his right leg. He left the game with 1:19 left in the first quarter and was not seen from again. After losing names like Kader Kohou and Artie Burns already with season-ending injuries, it’s all hands on deck for an overhauled unit in Miami. Potential missed time for Bonner will almost certainly impact the race for a starting job, if it comes to that.
Mike McDaniel offers update for injured cornerback Ethan Bonner after Miami’s 24-17 preseason win over the Lions
Regarding Bonner’s departure on Saturday afternoon, head coach Mike McDaniel offered what insight he could on short notice after the game. “(It) appears to be hamstring, don’t know the severity,” he said. “We’ll check on it when we get back (to Miami).”
Bonner has been lingering with the Dolphins for the last two seasons, he joined the team as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2024. He’s drawn praise throughout his time with the Dolphins for his athleticism and the growth he’s shown as a cornerback. 2025, amid all the open competition, was supposed to be his chance to show it, put the pieces together and claim a starting job. And, after a strong punch out against Chicago that helped force an interception, Bonner appeared to be having momentum rolling his way this summer.
Perhaps this is just a bump in the road and Bonner has suffered a minor tweak. But if he hasn’t — or if he’s going to miss the better part of the rest of the build-up to the regular season, it’s hard to envision that Bonner will do anything to fortify and claim starting status. The injury and the timing are unfortunate but now all Bonner and the Dolphins can do is cross their fingers that it isn’t one that costs him any footing in Miami’s desperate race to solidify the starting secondary for 2025.
The season will be here before we know it.
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