Miami Dolphins' Slew of Injuries Pours Salt into Wounds of Lost Season

At this point, we can safely say the Dan Campbell era was a flash in the pan.

The Miami Dolphins won their first two games under their interim head coach, but after a 30-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers in Week 15, the Dolphins moved to 5-9 (4-6 under Campbell) on the season.

There are a lot of changes coming down the pike for the Dolphins, from the coaching staff to the front office and most certainly up and down the roster. To suffer as many key injuries as the Dolphins suffered on Sunday, though?

The injury bug is just kicking the Dolphins while they're down.

One by one, the Dolphins had their high-profile players claimed by injury. First, it was the starting left tackle Branden Albert.

It sounds like Albert will be okay. "I'll be fine," Albert said when asked if he thinks he'll play again this year, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. 

But Albert was only the first of several injuries on Sunday. Next up, it was backup linebacker Chris McCain.

Beasley reported that McCain left the locker room on crutches, suggesting that he might be shelved for a bit.

Losing a backup linebacker isn't the end of the world—although with the Dolphins' dearth of talent at the position, they need all the help they can get. With that said, the linebacker corps suffered another loss in starting inside linebacker Koa Misi.

No updates were provided on Misi's status after the game, but being diagnosed as doubtful to return is not necessarily a good sign. In the context of the blowout loss, however, perhaps the Dolphins were just playing it safe with Misi to avoid aggravating the injury in any way.

Even after all those injuries, though, the injury gods had decided the Dolphins still hadn't suffered enough. The coup de grace involved center Mike Pouncey.

"Brutal" is an understatement. Pouncey left the game with the leg injury, and Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel reported that he was ruled questionable to return. But according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins center is less likely to return this year than the left tackle. 

What does it matter, anyway? The Dolphins are 5-9, with a record of .500 or worse for the seventh straight season and the ninth time in the past decade, and they are below .500 for the seventh time in the past decade.

It's another lost season for the Dolphins, with or without the injuries.

The Dolphins won't even be at full strength to send the Campbell era out on a George Costanza-like high note.

At this point, the only hope for joy this season is to upend the Patriots at SunLife Stadium in Week 17 and potentially throw a wrench in New England's chances at the No. 1 seed—assuming the Patriots haven't locked it up by that point.

The injuries themselves are bittersweet, too.

On one hand, it's hard to watch a team lose so many key players. On the other hand, at least the Dolphins have some key players they can build around for the future—no matter who the head coach may be.