Dolphins DT Zach Sieler Out for Season With Ruptured Biceps After Playing Through It vs. Lions
Miami's veteran defensive tackle will undergo season-ending surgery after rupturing his biceps on the first play of Sunday's loss to Detroit
The Dolphins have lost the anchor of their defensive line for the rest of the season. Zach Sieler ruptured his biceps and will undergo season-ending surgery, with a recovery of five to six months expected, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday.
Dolphins standout DT Zach Sieler ruptured his biceps and will undergo season-ending surgery, with a 5-6 month recovery expected, per sources. The injury happened on first play Sunday and he played the whole game with it.View on X →
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter): Dolphins standout DT Zach Sieler ruptured his biceps and will undergo season-ending surgery, with a 5-6 month recovery expected, per sources. The injury happened on first play Sunday and he played the whole game with it.
The timing of the injury makes the news even more striking. According to Schefter, Sieler got hurt on the first play of Sunday's 19-9 loss to the Lions and played the entire game anyway.
Sieler, 31, has been one of the few constants in Miami. A 2018 seventh-round pick of the Ravens out of Ferris State, he landed with the Dolphins in 2019 and developed into one of the league's most productive interior pass rushers, posting 10 sacks in both 2023 and 2024 and 5.5 more last season. He started all eight games this year and had 24 tackles and two sacks before the injury.
His absence leaves a thin interior. Miami's other interior linemen include Jordan Phillips, 2025 first-round pick Kenneth Grant, Zeek Biggers and Rene Konga, and that group will now have to absorb the snaps Sieler had been playing on a defense that has struggled to get stops all season.
The loss caps a rough stretch for a team already well out of contention. The Dolphins are 1-7, last in the AFC East, and have dropped two straight since their only win, a 28-25 victory over the Jets on Oct. 25. A five-to-six-month recovery should put Sieler on track for the spring, but his 2026 season is over.
Miami visits the Colts on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET.