Knowshon Moreno out for the year but Dolphins looking for next man up

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
The Miami Dolphins wasted no time breaking some disappointing news on Tuesday morning when they announced that Knowshon Moreno had been placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL. 

The injury, which occurred in the third quarter after he caught a screen pass and ran out of bounds, was not noticed until he had an MRI done on Monday afternoon. With a player of his caliber not out of the lineup, what does that mean?

“We have other guys. He (Knowshon Moreno) didn’t play a couple of games and Daniel Thomas is on the roster, we haven’t made any final decisions, but he certainly contributed nicely in the games that he has played,” Joe Philbin said. “Damien Williams is really developing as a special teams player. He’s a guy that we’ve dressed every single week. Again, I don’t know who exactly on the 46 that we’re going to have. We’re fortunate, we’ve got some good running backs on this team and we’ll see how it goes. Then Lamar (Miller) we’ll certainly update as we need to.”

Mike Wallace, who quickly became good friends with Moreno this offseason, said it’s going to be tough losing a player like him.

“Yeah, I mess with him every day, that’s my guy. It’s always tough losing a player, when guys bring so much intensity and emotion to the game. It’s going to be tough without him. But we’ve got some guys that hopefully can rally together and fill those shoes.”

Lamar Miller will now become the primary back and quite honestly, he’s been that just about the entire season. Miller has racked up 330 yards in five games and has scored three touchdowns. He is currently averaging 5.2 yards per carry, which is one of the best in the NFL. With Miller playing his best football in his short career, he’s ready for the challenge.

“We just have to continue to develop as a team. It’s sad to hear about Knowshon, but we just have to have that next guy (up) mentality.”

He’ll get his first test as the guy with no one behind him breathing down his neck on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

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