Noah Igbinoghene didn’t play a defensive snap in the Miami Dolphins’ first four games of the 2022 season. In each of the past two games, the former Auburn cornerback has played 31 defensive snaps.

And he could be in for even more action on Sunday night, when the Dolphins square off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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At practice on Friday, Miami had three healthy cornerbacks – Igbinoghene, Justin Bethel and Elijah Campbell.

A special-team specialist, Bethel played his first defensive snaps for Miami this season against the Minnesota Vikings last week, and his 12 snaps were his most in a game since the 2017 season. Campbell has played five defensive snaps in 2022, giving him seven in his three NFL seasons.

“What we have on the roster is what we have on the roster,” Dolphins cornerbacks coach Sam Madison said. “We always say the next man up. These guys are doing an unbelievable job of understanding what we’re trying to get done. And (coach) Mike (McDaniel) is doing a great job of managing the things that we have and what we don’t have. We have guys that just in case need to go in there and get things done. We’ll plug and play. But (defensive coordinator) Josh (Boyer) is doing a very good job of putting the game plan together, and the guys are understanding it very well and just going out and executing.”

The Dolphins had planned to field one of the NFL’s top cornerback tandems in Xavien Howard and Byron Jones in 2022. But Jones hasn’t played this season after offseason ankle surgery.

Nik Needham had started in Jones’ place, but he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the 24-16 loss to the Vikings and will miss the rest of the season.

Rookie Kader Kohou had started three games in the secondary until missing the Minnesota game with an oblique injury. He practiced on a limited basis over the past week and had a questionable designation on the injury report.

Cornerback Keion Crossen played 12 defensive snaps against Minnesota to boost his season total to 93. But he did not practice for the Steelers game because of a knee injury, and his playing prospects were deemed as doubtful.

And Howard came up with groin injury on Friday that has him listed as questionable.

It appears Igbinoghene’s opportunity has arrived.

“I think he’s been working very hard,” Boyer said. “We’ve been, I would say, detailing and stressing certain things in his game, and I think he’s kind of risen to the challenge.

“I said earlier I was very excited when he would get his opportunity, not knowing when that would be. But you always prepare guys like they’re going to play. I would say he’s been out there, and he’s been very competitive. He’s been good at the line of scrimmage. And like all of our guys, we’re striving for consistency play in and play out.”

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Coming to Auburn from Hewitt-Trussville High School as a wide receiver, Igbinoghene made the switch to the secondary during spring practice in 2018 after one college season as a pass-catcher.

After Igbinoghene’s two seasons in the Tigers’ secondary, Miami made him the 30th choice in the 2020 NFL Draft. Igbinoghene played in every game as a rookie, with two starts. But last season, his action consisted of 78 defensive snaps in seven games.

Igbinoghene has played almost that much in the Dolphins’ past two games.

“He’s getting better,” Madison said. “I mean, when your number’s called, you got to go out there, and the other 10 guys on the field are really expecting you to go out there and do your job. Throughout the course of the (Minnesota) game, I was talking to him, and then (nose tackle) Raekwon (Davis) saw me talking to him, and he was like ‘Coach, leave him alone. He knows what he’s doing.’ So I just let him go and just handle his business.

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“But Noah is one of those guys that’s going to go out there and give it his all. He’s still learning the position, and I’m trying to give him all the little tools that he can to go out there and be — not perfect — but be in a position to be able to make plays.”

The Dolphins and the Steelers meet at 7:20 p.m. CDT Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. NBC will televise the game.

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McDaniel said the players available for Miami would be ready to play.

“I feel very fortunate that we’ve made some good decisions in the scouting department and as a coaching staff,” McDaniel said, “that the players that we had on the roster are very capable. … I’m very glad we had the depth we’ve had because everybody’s had to play, and that will make us better down the road.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.