T.J. McDonald doubtful, Xavien Howard and Kiko Alonso questionable

The Miami Dolphins continue to see their secondary suffering through injuries - though with the injury issues for this team this year, that probably is not much of a surprise. Dolphins safety T.J. McDonald has been battling an ankle injury all week as the team prepares to face the Jacksonville Jaguars. McDonald was injured in last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, but played through the injury. He left the game in a walking boot and this week, head coach Adam Gase admitted that it may have been better if McDonald had not tried to tough it out.

“I don’t know really the exact time frame of [when it happened] but I know he was fighting through it during the game,” Gase said on Thursday. “He probably shouldn’t have gone back in but he was going to finish.”

On Friday, Gase said of McDonald’s status, “He’s not out. He’ll be doubtful. He’s doing everything he can to give himself a shot.”

McDonald’s addition to the rash of injuries Miami has had this year comes just as the team appears to be getting cornerback Xavien Howard, who has missed the last two games, back. Howard, who was named to the Pro Bowl this week and is tied for the league lead in interceptions and linebacker Kiko Alonso have both been working to be available for Sunday. Gase explained, ““’X’ [Howard] did reps in practice today, which was good to see, even on the turf. Hopefully we just keep trending upward. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’ll take both [Howard and Alonso decisions] all of the way to game day.”

Joining Howard and Alonso in the injury report’s questionable category are defensive tackles Ziggy Hood and Kendrick Norton. Hood has a hamstring injury while Norton, who signed with the team this week off the Carolina Panthers practice squad, has an ankle issue.

The Jaguars side of the injury report included wide receiver DJ Chark, Jr. (quadriceps), safety Ronnie Harrison (knee), kicker Josh Lambo (right groin), and offensive lineman Jermey Parnell (knee), all of who have been ruled out of the game.

Miami and the Jaguars will kickoff at 1pm ET on Sunday.