The worst news of the NFL weekend belongs to Miami, and it is not close. De’Von Achane tore his ACL in Sunday’s loss to Kansas City and will miss the rest of the 2026 season.
Achane went down early, gaining 17 yards on three carries before he exited. Head coach Jeff Hafley said afterward that the initial read did not sound optimistic, and the imaging confirmed the fear. For a 0-3 team in the first year of a rebuild, this is the kind of injury that decides what the next four months are about.
Miami Just Lost Its Only Real Weapon
Achane is 25 and signed a four-year, $64 million extension this offseason after a Pro Bowl campaign that produced 1,350 rushing yards, 488 receiving yards and 12 total touchdowns. He was the one Dolphin who forced defenses to account for him on every snap.
The 2026 version had already been struggling behind a bad offensive line, with 127 rushing yards on 34 carries and 49 receiving yards on seven catches through three games without reaching the end zone. Now Miami hands the backfield to second-year back Ollie Gordon II, who ran 17 times for 41 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. Jaylen Wright is on the roster but has his own injury history and was inactive.
When your quarterback leads the team in rushing, as Malik Willis did with 56 yards, the problem is bigger than the running back position. Losing Achane removes the last reason to think this offense can be fixed in-season.
The Rest Of The Board Is Better Than Expected
Minnesota exhaled. Justin Jefferson rolled an ankle against Tampa Bay, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that he avoided anything long term and has a chance to play Sunday. The Vikings are 3-0 and lead the NFC North, but their passing game looked lost without him. Kyler Murray went 15 of 29 for 168 yards with a touchdown and an interception once Jefferson was unavailable.
Los Angeles is trending the right way too. Puka Nacua has missed two games with hip and groin trouble, and Sean McVay said this week he is hopeful Nacua plays in Week 4. That is a real change in tone after the Rams spent a fortnight treating the injury as week-to-week with surgery hanging in the background.
Both situations could still turn. Soft-tissue injuries to receivers who play as physically as Jefferson and Nacua tend to linger when teams rush them back. Neither club should be in a hurry in September.
The Giants Are Already Playing For Next Year
New York is the other team whose season changed on a single diagnosis. Jaxson Dart needs surgery to repair a full meniscus tear and is done for the year, which ends the evaluation the Giants built this season around.
That is the honest divide across the league right now. Minnesota and Los Angeles are dealing with problems that measure in days. Miami and New York are dealing with problems that measure in draft position.
Elsewhere, Houston is monitoring Nico Collins and his hamstring, and the Jets list Breece Hall as questionable with a thigh issue ahead of Sunday against Chicago. Those are the sorts of injuries that shape a week. Achane’s shapes a franchise.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.