Dolphins inside linebacker Elandon Roberts walked onto the field at the team’s practice facility in Miami Gardens on Thursday morning, where he was met by defensive lineman Raekwon Davis with a big hug.
The Dolphins activated Roberts from the physically unable to perform list, allowing him to participate in his first training camp practice after sitting out the first three weeks as he continued rehabilitation from last year’s season-ending knee injury.
“It felt good to be back out there with the team,” Roberts said after practice. “I just took it one day at a time. The Dolphins staff, they’ve got a good [medical] staff around me.”
Though Roberts was limited to individual drills in the final of two joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons, he participated in the team’s offseason workout program. It allowed him to get mental repetitions in walk-through settings while sticking to his rehabilitation process.
While Roberts faced a long rehab timeline and was an unrestricted free agent, the Dolphins re-signed him to a one-year deal in March, bringing back a solid contributor and a respected leader on the defense. Roberts, 27, started 11 games in 2020, recording 61 tackles and eight tackles for loss before injuring his knee in Week 16 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I felt like the organization, [Dolphins coach Brian Flores], [general manager] Chris [Grier], they had a lot of confidence in I’d do the right thing during my rehab process,” Roberts said, “and they had confidence in me just allowing them to keep me to take it one day at a time, not set too big of an expectation and stuff like that. And now, it’s just another stepping-stone.”
Roberts declined to say whether he would play in Saturday’s home preseason game against the Falcons but his return, eight months removed from a serious right knee injury, adds more depth to an inside linebacker core that includes Jerome Baker and Benardrick McKinney, whom the Dolphins acquired in an offseason trade. The team also has free agent acquisition Duke Riley and fifth-year player Vince Biegel, who has missed portions of training camp with a leg injury.
The Dolphins are hoping that the returning players and new additions can help boost a run defense that allowed 4.5 yards per attempt last season, which ranked 20th in the NFL. Roberts graded out as an above-average run defender, according to Pro Football Focus.
“As a group, we don’t look at, ‘What could we be?’” Roberts said when asked about expectations for his position group. “What we look at right now is coming out to practice each day, being able, as a unit, to get better each day. You start looking too far ahead, then in about a month or two, you guys will be saying we need to get rid of the whole linebacker crew. We’re just going to take it one day at a time and our expectation is just to get better each day.”
As Roberts watched his teammates match up against the Falcons in two-minute drills to conclude practice, he saw a unit fortified by continuity after leading the league in takeaways in 2020. The Dolphins’ first-team unit was able to stall the drive from the Falcons’ first-team offense, as defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah pressured quarterback Matt Ryan multiple times for likely sacks. When it was time for the second-team units, cornerback Jamal Perry intercepted a deflected pass that stopped the Atlanta drive behind midfield and secured another win for the Dolphins.
After practice, cornerback Xavien Howard said “the sky is the limit for us on the defensive side.”
And while Roberts waits to be cleared to fully practice, he can also look forward to a reunion with a pair of familiar faces in safety Jason McCourty and defensive lineman Adam Butler, whom he played alongside in New England under Flores.
“I think they bring the same thing that, like I said, the Dolphins expect all of us to bring,” Roberts said. “Come in each day. Work hard. Do your job. And keep the team first. And one thing I can say about them guys, their mentality is right on with that.”