The Miami Dolphins' impressive defense suffered an injury blow in Sunday's win over the Oakland Raiders.
Defensive end William Hayes suffered a torn ACL, coach Adam Gase said Monday, relaying that the pass rusher was injured while trying to avoid putting his body weight on the quarterback during a second-quarter sack.
"It's going to be a tough one for us to swallow," the coach said, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
Hayes played well for the upstart Miami defense through three weeks, compiling two sacks and four tackles for the 3-0 Dolphins. Gase's defense owns depth at the edge-rusher position but will miss Hayes in the rotation. 2017 first-round pick Charles Harris should see an uptick in snaps following Hayes' injury.
With the NFL focusing on defenders not landing with their body weight on the quarterback this year, it's brutal that Hayes' season ends on a play in which he succeeded to do just that.
