Dolphins lose Cameron Wake for season with torn achilles
The Miami Dolphins will be without star linebacker Cameron Wake after he tore his achilles tendon on Thursday night.
The Miami Dolphins defense has been atrocious through the team’s first seven games, a fact that on full display during Miami’s 36-7 thumping at the hands of the New England Patriots on Thursday. Unfortunately, it isn’t about to get any better for them anytime soon.
In addition to losing the Thursday night match-up against division rival New England, the Dolphins also watched as leading defender Cameron Wake was helped off the field late into the third quarter and did not return to the game. Friday, we learned that Wake will miss the remainder of the NFL season with a torn achilles tendon per Ian Rappaport of NFL.com.
Like the rest of Miami’s defense, Wake was slow off the blocks to start the season and held without a tackle through the team’s first four games. However since Week Five, Wake has put together seven sacks and seven tackles, including four sacks in Week Five against the Titans. He has averaged 10.5 sacks per season over his first six years in the league.
The loss of Wake puts the Dolphins into a really tight bind. Miami ranks 24th in the NFL in total defense, surrendering 379.4 yards per game. They’ve struggled against both the run (25th, 124.4 YPG) and the pass (19th), and have struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, ranking just 19th with 13 sacks on the season as a unit. The offseason addition of Ndamukong Suh has done little to strengthen the defensive side of the ball and the loss of Wake will cripple a team that is trying to climb out of the AFC East cellar.