Florida’s Miami Gardens — During Tuesday’s final pre-bye practice, nearly half of the Miami Dolphins starting lineup received a break, suggesting that the team’s week off couldn’t come at a better time.
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who has missed just one game in 2023 despite battling four separate injuries from the beginning of training camp, was among the absences on Tuesday.
What’s the latest, Waddle? a knee injury he sustained early in the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday. Despite this, Waddle persevered and managed to record 34 out of 63 pictures. However, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel claims that Waddle was definitely experiencing the affects 48 hours later.
Miami Dolphins: Jaylen Waddle Is Experiencing Pain
McDaniel stated on Tuesday, “He was sore, which we’re going to measure with our approach with him.” “You know, he really did a great job fighting for his teammates.” What actually motivated him was a combination of competitiveness and adrenaline. Illness on the game’s second play is undoubtedly not ideal.
However, I believe we gave an end around that may have been the game’s fourth or fifth play. He was clearly communicating to me from the sidelines that he wanted the ball and that he should still call that.
“He’s in a good spot. However, we’re going to make sure that we don’t do any harm to him moving forward. He’s had to battle injuries, unfortunately, this season, and he’ll utilize this bye week to make sure that he’s fully healthy and having no setbacks.”
Credit Waddle for showing toughness. Since the start of training camp, he’s missed two weeks of practice with an oblique injury, missed the Broncos game with a concussion, and needed medical attention in Week 7 for a back injury.
The bumps and bruises have had an impact on his production.
At the season’s midway point, Waddle has 40 catches for 522 yards and three touchdowns. Those are solid numbers, particularly considering his health, but way down from his epic 2022.
Waddle’s averages have slipped in yards per catch (from 18.1 in 2022 to 13.1 in 2023), yards before reception (11.3 to 7.7), yards after catch (6.8 to 5.4), and average depth of target (11.8 to 9.9).