Robinson in Concussion Protocol, Willis Banged Up. The Defense's Thin Margin Just Got Thinner.

Chop Robinson is in concussion protocol, and Malik Willis is dealing with a toe injury. Neither is on the injury report as out, but the timing is uncomfortable for a defense that doesn't have a lot of room to absorb hits like these.

Robinson is the top edge rusher on the depth chart, with Max Llewellyn behind him. That's a short drop-off. At linebacker, the situation was already a known concern coming into the year — Miami cut Tyrel Dodson in the offseason after he put up 129 tackles and five sacks in 2025, a decision that signaled a full philosophical reset at the position. Jordyn Brooks anchors the unit on a new extension, but the names behind him on the depth chart — DJ Herman, Rob Beal, Liam Anderson — are not names that have been tested in meaningful regular-season situations. Rookie Trey Moore was supposed to add something there before an ankle injury in preseason took him out of the picture.

The 2025 season's defining problem was structural fragility — a team that held together at home and came apart on the road, largely because the margin for error was too thin. Sillman's offseason was supposed to address that. The offensive side of the ball got real attention: the Wallace acquisition, the Achane extension of trust, the backfield depth add with Jarquez Hunter. The defensive rebuild was always the shakier half of that plan, and two injury designations into the 2026 season, it's already being tested.

Worth watching how Robinson clears protocol and whether Willis's toe limits him in any meaningful way. Small things become bigger things fast when the depth behind them is this new.