Chris Perkins: Dolphins’ De’Von Achane got slammed to turf twice vs. Texans; let’s hope it’s not a trend

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — If you think Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is in danger of being thrown around the field as though he were a 227-pound sack of flour, consider the plight of rookie running back De’Von Achane.

He was body slammed to the ground once in last Saturday’s 28-3 victory over Houston and thrown to the ground and landed on violently another time — the last incident causing him to leave the game and be declared “week to week” by coach Mike McDaniel. Consequently, it’s unclear whether Achane will play in this Saturday’s preseason finale at Jacksonville.

I’ve got to admit, I didn’t see this one coming.

I was more concerned about Achane, at 5 foot 9, 188 pounds, being able to avoid big hits, run between the tackles, and not get hammered into the ground on pass protection.

Repeated slams to the turf weren’t on my bingo card.

But here we are.

And it might not stop.

You’re always concerned about smaller players because they’re often considered more at risk than others. In this case, it could be a legitimate concern.

Consider what happened last week.

In the second quarter, on third-and-14 from the Dolphins’ 16-yard line, Achane burst off of right tackle for a 20-yard gain.

At the end of the play Achane was corralled by Houston safety Eric Murray (5-11, 199), picked up, and body slammed to the ground on his right shoulder.

Achane bounced up and was OK.

“I thought it was illegal to pick somebody up and slam them,” edge rusher Bradley Chubb said Wednesday, “and we didn’t really get a flag on that so hopefully they take a look at that.”

In the third quarter, Achane had a 6-yard gain at the end of which his forward progress was stopped by three Texans defenders.

Defensive tackle Khalil Davis, at 308 pounds, threw Achane to the ground and landed on top of him. Achane’s left shoulder took the brunt of the blow, and Achane left the game and didn’t return.

“He was playing hard and had a defensive lineman’s body weight fall on top of him,” McDaniel said the other day. “But he’s good and avoided anything severe.”

You’d have to think this happens to others frequently in the NFL, a smaller player being violently tossed to the ground, although no player comes immediately to mind.

But, stuff happens. Until last year I had never seen a quarterback (Tagovailoa) constantly slam the back of his head to the ground after being tackled and have it lead to concussions.

The Dolphins think they found a solution to Tagovailoa’s issue. He took jiu-jitsu to learn how to fall properly, and he did strength training to bulk up.

It’s unclear how they can address Achane’s possible issue.

This wasn’t a concern in college, it hasn’t been a concern in training camp (where teammates would never violently body slam Achane to the ground), and it wasn’t a concern in the preseason opener against Atlanta when Achane had 15 touches for 104 yards.

So perhaps it’s not a big deal.

But I’m concerned because being thrown to the ground and landed on by a 300-punder led to Achane missing practice time and possibly the preseason finale against the Jaguars.

Dolphins running back Salvon Ahmed, listed at 5-11, 197 pounds, was also slammed to the ground violently by Houston defensive end Jonathan Greenard in the second quarter. It’s the risk a smaller player takes.

Teammates have said Achane is a strong runner with good balance.

Chubb said defensive players don’t pick out smaller players and decide they’re going to dole out especially hard hits on them.

“When it comes to hitting people everybody’s about the same,” he said.

Since being drafted, Achane has been speedy, tough, durable, and reliable. He’s run between the tackles, shown off his tremendous speed, caught passes and returned kickoffs.

In one of the two joint practices against Atlanta, Achane stepped up in pass protection and blocked 238-pound linebacker Nate Landman, who outweighs him by 50 pounds.

I don’t worry about Achane’s toughness, I worry about how Achane’s body will be treated on the field and whether it’ll lead to injuries that cause him to miss practice and games.

He’s already had one injury, and he’s only played two preseason games.

Hopefully this doesn’t repeat itself and Achane is able to play all 17 regular-season games with a minimal amount of body slams.