Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey (51) prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey has become more important to this offense than usual, and that’s thanks to the Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito situation. From a purely football perspective, the saga took a starting offensive tackle from the Dolphins and a starting guard as well, meaning that the current starters’ values increased by default. But since Pouncey was the best offensive lineman to begin with, the center’s importance has merely skyrocketed.
That’s why it was so concerning to hear that Pouncey missed practice on Friday, because the news was initially broken in an uncertain manner. When player’s miss the last day of practice of a week, it’s usually not a good thing (see Alfonzo Dennard as a convenient example this week), and there were initially no updates given on what type of injury Pouncey suffered.
But we later learned that Pouncey was merely held out of practice due to an illness, so that was a bit of a relief. Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Mike Pouncey is expected to play in tomorrow’s game against the San Diego Chargers, which is definitely great news. Pouncey was officially listed questionable on the Dolphins injury report, and fellow offensive star Mike Wallace is also listed questionable. Both the WR and C are expected to play tomorrow, and I would be a bit surprised if we don’t see both of them out there in a key game. Let’s hope Pouncey is at full strength, because it sucks watching a talented running back like Lamar Miller suffer behind an offensive line that can’t open up adequate running lanes.