Mike Pouncey says he returned too soon from hip injury

The Miami Dolphins decided last week to shut starting center Mike Pouncey down for the season, and the veteran is having a tough time watching his team compete for a playoff spot without him. The situation is made even more difficult by the fact that Pouncey may have been able to avoid the setback if he didn’t come back so soon.

Pouncey suffered a broken hip in training camp when an opposing player fell on him. He missed just the first four games of the season, but the injury flared up in a win over the San Diego Chargers last month. Pouncey has not played since, and he told reporters this week that he feels he came back too soon from the initial injury.

“The risk (in continuing to play) would have been — (the doctor) didn’t know,” Pouncey said, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. “I got both scenarios. He said you can go out there and play on it and you could be fine and play six, seven more years after that. Or you could go out there and play on it, and you could re-injure it again and we could be talking about something totally different.”

The implication is that Pouncey could have been risking his career by continuing to play.

I guess, just talking to the coach and managing it, the best decision was probably just to go on IR and not chance it again for the rest of the season,” he added. “But shoot, the way this season is playing out, it’s hard.”

Miami has won eight of its last nine and is currently the No. 6 seed in the AFC. If they can overcome another untimely injury, the Dolphins have a great shot at reaching the postseason for the first time since 2008.