Dolphins cornerback Tony Lippett is lost for the season, coach Adam Gase told reporters on Tuesday morning. The third-year pro suffered a torn achilles during practice on Monday and doctors confirmed the team’s worst fears soon after. 
Last year, Lippett started in 13 games for Miami. This year, he was slated to play a big role once again, though he would have been behind Xavien Howard and Byron Maxwell in the pecking order.
“He jumped up, came down, no one touched him,” Gase said (via the Sun Sentinel). “Anytime you lose a guy that has started [games] for you last year, it’s not ideal. But that’s why we’ve collected the depth we have. That’s why we’re trying to get young players to go because this is what happens. We have to just keep developing these young players and that’s why every year we’re drafting a guy or when we get to college free agency, we feel like we found a couple of guys this year. We just want them to keep proving it to us. We feel like we’re pretty deep there and we just have to keep getting these guys better.”
Indeed, the Dolphins are a bit deeper at cornerback than they were in April. The Fins drafted Clemson product Cordrea Tankersley in the third round of this year’s draft and added veteran Alterraun Verner in July. The Dolphins could still consider out-of-house options (including big names like Darrelle Revis) as training camp winds down, but they might also be able to stand pat.
This has been a rough few weeks for the Dolphins, who have watched four starters suffer serious injuries. Before Lippett’s injury, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and linebacker Raekwon McMillan suffered season-ending ACL tears. Meanwhile, offensive guard Ted Larsen will be out for a while with a torn biceps muscle.