MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins‘ 50-point beatdown of the Denver Broncos Sunday did not come without a cost.
Three key contributors left Miami’s Week 3 win with injury and didn’t return. A day later, head coach Mike McDaniel suggested at least one of those three will miss the Dolphins’ big-time showdown with the Buffalo this weekend.
Mike McDaniel Provides Miami Dolphins Injury Report
McDaniel is preparing for the Bills as if receiver River Cracraft (shoulder) will not play Sunday.
“I don’t know how long it will be,” McDaniel said. “… It’s definitely not a day-to-day thing. We’ll continue getting feedback from him as we get even more test results and figure out a timeline for that.”
“He was playing at a very high level, and there’s no doubt we’ll see him again in the near future,” he added. “How near is that? I don’t know yet.”
Mike McDaniel on Jaylen Waddle and Jaelan Phillips pic.twitter.com/JCkyd2O1lY
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The injury left the Dolphins with four available receivers Sunday — and they only had that many because the team elevated Robbie Chosen from the practice squad prior to the game.
The good news? The Dolphins should have Jaylen Waddle back Sunday — even if McDaniel didn’t come out and say it Monday. Waddle missed Week 3 with a concussion, unable to clear the protocol in time to play.
McDaniel said Monday that Waddle remains in the protocol but struck a positive tone about his return.
“We’re very optimistic on how he’s feeling,” McDaniel said. “But I just worry about him getting right, and that should take care of itself here soon.”
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As for the other Dolphins players hurt Sunday — Jaelan Phillips (oblique) and Connor Williams (groin) — they are “day to day.”
“He’s doing better than yesterday,” McDaniel said of Phillips. “So, hopefully on Wednesday, he’ll be doing even better. We’ll see how that progresses on a day-to-day basis.”
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An oblique injury kept Waddle out of training camp for some three weeks, but if Phillips’ injury is similar, expect a quicker return.
“That was overly, aggressively cautious in that circumstance to make sure that we could file that away for the season,” McDaniel said of Waddle’s rehab schedule. “It was something that we didn’t want at his position to be nagging him the whole season.”