K.J. Britt’s insertion into the Miami Dolphins’ starting lineup might turn out to have been for only one game. But for that one game, Britt “played his ass off,” Miami linebackers coach Joe Barry said.

In the Dolphins’ first five games, Britt backed up middle linebacker Tyrel Dodson. Britt was on the field for 23 defensive snaps and 96 special-teams plays.

But Dodson missed Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Britt played 66 defensive snaps in his place and led the Dolphins with a career-high 13 tackles.

“I thought he did a really great job for us,” Barry said of the former Oxford High School and Auburn standout.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led a fourth-quarter comeback that overcame a 13-point deficit to give Miami a one-point lead with 46 seconds to play. But Los Angeles posted a 29-27 victory with a field goal with five seconds remaining.

“Football is a punching match,” Britt said. “You take some punches, you get some punches, and we fought back. Had a big three-and-out, but, you know, just got to win the game at the end of the day.”

Los Angeles got in position for the winning field goal when quarterback Justin Herbert shook off outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips to complete a short pass to Ladd McConkey. The Chargers wide receiver ran past Miami safety Dante Trader and raced to a 42-yard gain.

“I mean, it hurts,” Britt said in the locker room after the game. “I mean, that hurts, especially — you know, man, that hurts. I mean, I can’t even put it into words, man.

“But the thing about it, man, it’s still a long season. Still early on in the season. We’re still working. This is the hardest-working team I’ve ever been a part of day in and day out. Sometimes God has to find a way of doing things, but we have got to be obedient and faithful to what we know. That’s work. We just got to come out here, and we just got to get a win at the end of the day, man. But it hurts, man. It hurts.”

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Dodson likely will be back for the Dolphins on Sunday, when Miami plays the Cleveland Browns at noon CDT at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland. Dodson was a full participant at practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

Even if he’s back on special-teams duty on Sunday, Britt has a straightforward mission for the Dolphins in a matchup of 1-5 teams.

“Just get the win,” Britt said. “I mean, that’s it, man. The work that we put in is unbelievable. From OTAs to now, I mean, it’s unbelievable. You just got to go in here and just reap the benefit of it.

“And like I said, God has a funny way of doing things. And man, we knocking on it. You know, that’s the thing about it: We knocking on the win. You know, you go to four ball games, it’s coming out to the last drive. I mean, that’s essentially what it’s been. So if we win those four ball games, win three of those ball games, it’s not, you know, so we knocking on it. We just got to kick the door in.”

Britt joined the Dolphins as a free agent in March from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he played his first four NFL seasons. Britt has appeared in the playoffs every previous season of his career, giving him as many postseason trips as the Dolphins made in the past 17 years.

An All-State selection in his final two seasons at Oxford and an All-SEC selection as a junior at Auburn, Britt played only two games as a senior at because of a hand injury and entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2021.

Tampa Bay had Lavonte David and Devin White entrenched at its inside-linebacker spots, and Britt spent his first three seasons mainly on special teams. Through the 11th game of his third NFL season, Britt had been on the field for 815 special-teams plays – 148 more than any other Tampa Bay player during that time. But he had played more than 13 defensive snaps in a game only once, and before Britt made his first NFL start on Dec. 3, 2023, he had played 17 defensive snaps in the 2023 season.

But David and White had injury issues down the stretch in 2023, and despite getting hurt twice, including badly enough to be carted off the field once, Britt started six of the Buccaneers’ final eight games, including both playoff contests – a 32-9 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 15 and a 31-23 loss to the Detroit Lions on Jan. 21.

After 2023, White left for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency, putting Britt in the lineup beside David. Britt started the first 11 games of the 2024 season, but he sustained an ankle injury in a 30-7 victory over the New York Giants on Nov. 24. Britt played 66 defensive snaps in Tampa Bay’s seven remaining games and finished the season with 72 tackles.

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