If defensive tackle Randy Starks wants to ride a double-decker bus this weekend, he’ll have to find one in South Florida.
Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports that Starks did not make the overnight trip to London with his Dolphins teammates and he will miss Sunday’s game because of a back injury. It will be the first game that Starks has missed since joining the Dolphins in 2008, ending a run that reached 99 games during last weekend’s loss to the Chiefs.
The Dolphins will miss Starks’s productivity up front. Earl Mitchell should start alongside Jared Odrick in the middle of the line against the Raiders. Anthony Johnson and Derrick Shelby will likely see an uptick in playing time as well when the Dolphins reshuffle their rotation with Starks out of the picture.
Miami also made the trip across the Atlantic without linebacker Chris McCain, who remained in Miami to take care of a personal matter.