Lawrence Timmons missed a game for the first time since 2009 after leaving the Miami Dolphins just before the team’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. He was officially ruled inactive by the team and didn’t make the trip to StubHub Center where the Dolphins won 19-17.
Dolphins LB Lawrence Timmons went AWOL. What’s going on?
A streak of 101 consecutive starts for Lawrence Timmons will end due to some bizarre circumstances.
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According to TMZ, the Dolphins filed a missing persons report with police in Los Angeles this past weekend for Timmons. TMZ reports that the team became concerned when Timmons wasn’t in his hotel room Saturday night at bed check.
He was then found by police at LAX, where he was trying to fly back to Pennsylvania for a family matter.
On Monday, Adam Schefter reported that it was indeed a personal matter, but hopes to start playing this week:
Timmons did not play Sunday, snapping a streak of 101 consecutive starts in the NFL.
The linebacker spent the first 10 seasons of his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but joined the Dolphins on a two-year, $12 million contract in March. After the team’s Week 1 game was postponed due to Hurricane Irma, Timmons was set to make his debut with the Dolphins in Week 2 against the Chargers.
Instead, Timmons went missing from the team’s hotel in Los Angeles just before the game because “something angered him,” according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. It may have nothing to do with football and is likely a personal issue, according to Salguero.
After the game, Dolphins coach Adam Gase wouldn’t comment on the reason for Timmons’ absence.
What does this mean for the Dolphins? With Timmons gone, the Dolphins are in a precarious spot at the linebacker position. It was on third-year linebacker Mike Hull to step in for Miami against the Chargers.
Hull, 26, was an undrafted free agent in 2015 and spent most of his rookie season on the Dolphins’ practice squad. He appeared in all 16 games last season, but made just one start for the team.
The Dolphins drafted Ohio State’s Raekwon McMillan in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft to add to the team’s linebacking corps, but the rookie tore his ACL in preseason and will miss the season.
Miami had just four linebackers for the Week 2 game against the Chargers.
Losing Timmons for anything longer than a one-week dispute would be a tough blow for an already questionable unit for the Dolphins.
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