Jamar Taylor's injury not serious enough for injured reserve

Written by Luis Sung | Twitter: @FLSportDebater
During the loss to the Denver Broncos, the Miami Dolphins' secondary took yet another hit as second-year cornerback Jamar Taylor left the game with a shoulder injury and never returned. 

Speculation began to swirl regarding the severity of Taylor's injury, even going so far as to fear that Taylor's season was over and he would have a tough recovery ahead of him for the upcoming season.

However, per the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson, Taylor's injury is not nearly as severe as many feared. Initial suspicions were that Taylor had dislocated his shoulder, which would have effectively ended the developing corner's season and sent him to the injured reserve list. Fortunately, Taylor's shoulder is merely separated, not dislocated. According to Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post, Taylor is expected to miss three weeks.

The Dolphins secondary is already hurting depth-wise with starting cornerback Cortland Finnegan still nursing an ankle injury, and other second-year cornerback Will Davis out for the season with a knee injury. Also done for the year is CB/S Michael Thomas, who had been making his mark on special teams as well as providing some much needed intensity to the defense.

The Dolphins have already signed free agent cornerback Jalil Brown, who had been impressing in training camp before getting hurt and being released during final cuts. But Brown was inactive against the Broncos in favor of recently called up corner Lowell Rose, who had previously been in the Arena Football League.

With the team's options rapidly diminishing, perhaps the Dolphins could once again look to the free agent market. Among those available are former Miami Dolphins Richard Marshall and Dimitri Patterson, who have both played in defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle's defensive scheme.

Patterson is the more talented of the two, but he did find himself in trouble that led to his release while he was a New York Jet. If called upon, there could be mild drama from the media about the signing, but as the old saying goes: "Desperate times, desperate measures." 

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