Terron Armstead among four Dolphins to start training camp on PUP list

After dealing with four separate injuries during the 2022 season with the Miami Dolphins, left tackle Terron Armstead will not be ready to start training camp in 2023.

The four-time Pro Bowl lineman was placed on the active/physically-unable-to-perform list Tuesday afternoon, along with fellow lineman Isaiah Wynn and tight end Tanner Conner, ahead of the team’s first training camp practice Wednesday.

Armstead, who had previously battled an injury history through nine seasons with the New Orleans Saints, initially suffered a toe injury in last season’s opener with the Dolphins. Mostly playing through the ailment for all but four games, he then sustained pectoral, knee and hip injuries that hampered him through the finish line of the season and Miami’s playoff loss at the Buffalo Bills.

While Armstead isn’t ready for the start of camp, he posted an encouraging video on his 32nd birthday Sunday following a workout.

“Year 11 loading. I’m excited. I’m ready,” Armstead said in the clip. “I’m going to be the best player on the team, one of the best players in the league.”

3⃣2⃣ !!!
God bless!! pic.twitter.com/nd23NK14Sq

— T. Stead (@T_Armstead72) July 23, 2023

Armstead did not participate in the Dolphins’ organized team activities and minicamp this offseason, although he was often present on the sideline during drills. It’s not known which injury is still holding him back ahead of training camp, but the toe was always at the core of his other ensuing ailments last season.

“He’s been having a good offseason,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said during minicamp, while foregoing to answer whether Armstead had offseason surgery on the toe. “I have no reservations about where he’s at. He has had his fill of watching practice, so he’s done everything in his power and I look forward to seeing him in training camp and I haven’t been given any reason to have hesitancy to this point at all.”

The injuries of Wynn and Conner are unknown. The three players placed on PUP joined cornerback Nik Needham, who is rehabbing a torn Achilles last October. Players on the PUP list during training camp can be activated at any time.

It’s an encouraging sign that safety Brandon Jones and cornerback Trill Williams are not starting camp on PUP after they both suffered season-ending knee injuries in 2022.

The Dolphins also activated undrafted cornerback Ethan Bonner off the non-football injury list Tuesday.