PITTSBURGH -- Miami Dolphins star cornerback Xavien Howard said he will undergo an MRI on Tuesday after aggravating a knee injury in Monday night's 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Howard, who missed the previous two games with that same knee injury, left Monday's contest during the third quarter and did not return. He said it was a coaches' decision to not put him back in the game.
"I've had a lot of knee surgeries, scopes, stuff like that. I don't think it's something that's serious," said Howard, who walked around the locker room postgame without a noticeable limp or brace on his knee.
Howard, 26, had an interception Monday and got his hands on a couple more of Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph's throws. Howard was tracking JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson for the first half with a lot of success, but the Steelers' offense started to take off once Howard exited the game permanently.
Smith-Schuster was targeted twice with Howard on him, with zero catches and an interception, according to NextGen Stats data. On Smith-Schuster's seven targets against other players, he had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Howard has a history of knee injuries, including surgery to repair his meniscus last December that cost him the final four games of the season. He still tied for the NFL lead with seven interceptions in 2018.
"We'll evaluate that over the course of the week and see where he is," Miami coach Brian Flores said. "Obviously X is one of our best players and made a couple of plays for us tonight. But injuries happen to every team. We're not going to sit here and make excuses about a guy being out."