MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Austin Jackson will miss at least the next few weeks after suffering a lower leg injury.
Coach Mike McDaniel said Jackson was "stepped on" during Friday's practice, but his recovery timeline "doesn't seem to be into the regular season."
Jackson was a first-round pick in 2020 and played his way into one of the team's cornerstone roles, signing a three-year, $36 million extension in 2023. He missed nine games with a meniscus injury last season, but McDaniel said his current injury is unrelated to that one.
"He got the injury playing football and got stepped on. It has nothing to do with anything but that," McDaniel said Sunday. "And with Austin, the bottom line for me where he's at ... he knocked some rust off, he got back and, in my opinion, exceeded where he was playing before. So we're fortunate that that timetable doesn't seem to be into the regular season."
The Dolphins' offensive line was drastically worse without Jackson in the lineup last season; their 71.5% run block win rate from Weeks 1 through 9 dropped to 67.3% from Weeks 10 through 18. They owned a 62.4% pass block win rate with Jackson; 50% without him.
Both win rates without Jackson ranked second worst in the league last season.
McDaniel said Jackson is projected to start in the team's Week 1 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
In the meantime, Miami signed 2016 first-round pick Germain Ifedi after working him out Saturday. Ifedi started seven games for the Cleveland Browns last season after spending the previous seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons.
The Dolphins also activated safety Ifeatu Melifonwu from the non-football injury list, where he had been since the start of training camp. His return is welcome for a team that has suffered injuries to multiple players at the position, including Ashtyn Davis and Dante Trader Jr.
