Sunday’s most significant Miami Dolphins news came early in the day when the club agreed to a three-year extension with standout defensive tackle Zach Sieler. But head coach Mike McDaniel also offered injury updates on several key Dolphins, including running back Jeff Wilson Jr. and quarterback Mike White.
Miami Dolphins Injury Report
After dropping their final preseason game to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, the Dolphins will turn their attention to the NFL’s Aug. 29 roster cutdown deadline. Here’s the latest on several critical injury situations that could affect how Miami organizes its depth chart in the coming days.
Jeff Wilson Jr. and Salvon Ahmed, RBs
Wilson hasn’t played at all this preseason while he deals with multiple injuries. McDaniel said Wilson is “going through some very painful midsection on top of the finger (injury) that he was dealing with.”
Those issues were “compounding,” per McDaniel, who said he didn’t think “it would be fair” to put Wilson on the field against Jacksonville, even though Wilson wanted to play.
Meanwhile, fellow running back Salvon Ahmed was forced to leave Saturday’s game with an injury. However, he passed neurological testing and is not in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Ahmed is currently “day-to-day,” according to McDaniel.
Mike White, QB
Mike White, whom the Dolphins signed this season to compete for backup quarterback duties behind Tua Tagovailoa, cleared the concussion protocol on Friday, per McDaniel. Still, White didn’t suit up for Saturday’s game, allowing Skylar Thompson to start and handle 27 dropbacks.
Thompson struggled against the Jaguars, throwing two interceptions on his first two attempts. But McDaniel didn’t blame Thompson for at least one of his picks and praised the second-year passer’s “mental fortitude.”
McDaniel said he won’t announce whether White or Thompson has claimed Miami’s QB2 job until next week, even though White appears to have secured the job.
Liam Eichenberg, G
McDaniel said Liam Eichenberg is dealing with an “extremely painful” injury but suggested he probably could have played in last night’s game had it been a regular-season contest. But McDaniel didn’t want Eichenberg on the field “three-fourth competing, and then one-fourth just trying to make it to the next play.”
Free agent Isaiah Wynn has started Miami’s last two preseason games at left guard and appears poised to take that role from Eichenberg, who’s started 26 games over the past two seasons.
Daewood Davis, WR
The Dolphins and Jaguars jointly agreed to end their Week 3 game with more than eight minutes remaining after rookie wide receiver Daewood Davis suffered a scary injury and had to be immobilized and taken off the field on a cart.
Thankfully, Miami announced Sunday morning that Davis had been released from the hospital and will travel home with the team personnel.
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“He just recently got in the building,” McDaniel said of Davis. “He’s in the concussion protocol, and we will continue to evaluate him.
“He’s doing better than last night in terms of strength and stuff. There are certain things that we were worried about that were avoided, but we’ll continue monitoring him extensively.”
Elijah Campbell, DB
Backup defensive back/special teams ace Elijah Campbell did not suffer an ACL injury on Saturday, but he is expected to miss a substantial amount of time this season.
“He avoided one thing, but there was a substantial injury that will take him into the season,” McDaniel said, adding that Campbell has a “chance” to play this year.
Campbell appeared in 16 games for the Dolphins last season and played 69% of Miami’s special teams snaps. PFN’s Adam Beasley listed Campbell as the club’s fifth safety in his most recent Dolphins roster projection.