What Happened to De'Von Achane's Shoulder?

During the Miami Dolphins Week 2 preseason game against the Houston Texans, Dolphins rookie running back De'Von Achane had to be carted off with what looked like a bad shoulder injury. So what happened to him? Let's dive in.

The injury in question occurred when a defensive lineman fell onto Achane's shoulder. Now, that had to hurt. Imagine a 300+ pound, 6 foot 5 inch (at the very least) behemoth falling on your shoulder. Keep in mind, Achane is 5'9, 187 pounds, so he is much smaller than the defensive lineman. According to reports that came out the next day, an MRI on Achane's shoulder revealed he has sprained the AC Joint in his shoulder.

The AC joint, or the Acromioclavicular Joint, is a joint in the shoulder that connects the collarbone (clavicle) to the shoulder blade (scapula). The AC joint is made up of many small ligaments and tendons, making it similar in a sense to the ankle. This joint allows for shoulder movements to occur, including those particularly useful to running backs. When discussing a sprained AC joint, you are talking about damage to the ligaments making up the joint. AC joint sprains, like all sprains, can range from mild (slight stretching of the ligaments) to severe (full tearing of the ligaments), with mild sprains simply requiring some therapy and severe sprains requiring surgery.

Thankfully, De'Von Achane hasn't suffered a severe AC joint sprain. According to Dolphin's head coach Mike McDaniel, MRIs revealed that Achane didn't have a severe sprain but rather one that is much more mild. Still, although the sprain is mild, Achane is on a day-to-day basis, with no guarantee he'll play in the last preseason game. And this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone for multiple reasons. Firstly, we need to understand what position Achane plays: running back. He uses his shoulders to play RB. Like, he really uses his shoulders. RBs often lower their shoulder when initiating contact with a defender in an attempt to gain more yards. The thing is, with an injury like an AC joint sprain, even a mild one will result in significant pain while lowering the shoulder. Also, when running, RBs (and humans in general) use a back-and-forth motion in their arms, which requires the good ole' AC joint. So, sprained AC joint = no bueno en running. On top of those two reasons, Achane and Miami need to let that injury heal fully to not risk future shoulder problems. This is because not only is Achane of a much smaller frame than burly NFL linebackers, but his position is violent and often sees RBs get injured frequently after the age of 25. So it is in both parties best interests to just let him heal, which is why he is on a day-to-day basis. And besides, it's not like Miami is in a rush to have him on the field; Miami has a quality RB room that could suffice without the rookie for a week or two.

So yeah, De'Von Achane is okay. Usually, a mild AC joint sprain could sideline someone for 2ish weeks, but like I've said here on the MedBook before, these are stupid-rich athletes with access to world-class nutrition, rehab, and facilities. So more likely than not, Achane could recover in a period quicker than two weeks.