Injury to Thomas raises questions at RG

By Adam Sweeney  |   Sunday, May 24, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

Miami Dolphins
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Donald Thomas must be cursing the football gods right now.

Thomas, a right guard for the Miami Dolphins, missed all but one game during the 2008 season with a foot injury, and he put in a ton of effort to get back to the field. His work seemed to have paid off, as the former sixth-round pick out of Connecticut was ready to step into a starting spot for the Dolphins. Not so fast, though, as Thomas tore a pectoral muscle earlier this month and will now be out until at least the middle of July.

Ikechuku Ndukwe and Andy Alleman will fight for the starting spot while Thomas works to get back in playing condition, which could take longer than expected. Because Thomas is going to be limited in his upper mobility, he is going to lose the necessary strength needed to do damage against defensive linemen. It's not the end of the world, though, and a torn muscle hopefully will take him a lot less time to rehab than his foot. But you never know with muscle injuries. If it continues to nag at him, Thomas may end up have to get surgery for it.

The fact that Ndukwe, last year's starter while Thomas sat out, is in a position battle should show you how badly the Dolphins need Thomas. No offense to Alleman, but neither of the two players would appear to be what the Dolphins are looking for.

If Thomas misses a large part of the season, you have to wonder why the Dolphins chose to grab tight end John Nalbone in the fifth round instead of an offensive lineman. You can forgive the Dolphins for selecting Brian Hartline (they need legitimate depth at wide receiver), but improving the offensive line was one of the key points headed into April's NFL draft. The second-guessing will only grow if rookie quarterback Pat White, a second-rounder, struggles to make an impact on the team.

For all we know, this could be much ado about nothing and Thomas will come back and thrive this entire season; nevertheless, you have to be a tiny bit concerned whenever a player suffers back-to-back injuries. They aren't machines, obviously, and injuries add up.

The Dolphins can only hope Thomas recovers.
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About Adam Sweeney

Adam Sweeney spent 4 years as an opinions and arts & entertainment columnist with the Lone Star Lutheran, also working with Sports Illustrated.com. Along with his work on Realfootball 365 he currently is a contributor for Film School Rejects, SLAM Online, Talkhoops.net, and C-Heads ...
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