Budding Dolphins superstar Jaylen Waddle will be on the sidelines this week. That means no joint practices and no playing in the exhibition game.
Miami coach Mike McDaniel announced the news Wednesday morning. Waddle has an abdominal injury/ He suffered it last week in practice. The Dolphins are spending this week in Houston to work out against the Texans. The two teams meet Saturday at NRG Stadium.
McDaniel said Waddle, the former Alabama standout, wants to practice, which he said is a good sign. He said the move was a precautionary one.
And the Dolphins certainly don’t want to hurry Waddle back to practice. Coaches know what he can do. His 18.2 yards per catch led the NFL in 2022.
In a story earlier this week, The Athletic ranked the top 25 players in the NFL who are 25 and younger. The 24-year-old Waddle rated as 11th best in a league well stocked with young talent. The reasoning for the ranking:
Two seasons, two 1,000-plus-yard receiving campaigns for the Alabama product, including 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022. Members of the Dolphins organization who observed his offseason approach and growth during OTAs predict he will take another huge leap and cement his place among the elite at wide receiver.
If Waddle gets healthy, Miami will field a potent passing game. But health is the key.
First, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa needs to stay upright. He spent much of his off season learning ways to fall correctly so he won’t suffer another concussion. Tyreek Hill, who is the highest paid receiver in the NFL, is back for his second season with the Dolphins. He wants to break the record for catches in a season. Last year he caught 119 passes for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns.
Jaylen Waddle has 179 catches in his first two seasons. His numbers dropped when Hill joined the Dolphins. Whereas he caught 104 passes for 1,015 as a rookie, he totaled 75 last year. However, his yardage increased to 1,356 yards to give him that eye-popping reception average.
There’s also a nice buzz for rookie speedster De’Von Achane. McDaniel gave the running back 15 touches in the Dolphins preseason opener. The presence of Achane might’ve been why Miami didn’t continue to pursue free agent Dalvin Cook, who signed with the Jets this week.
Circling back to Jaylen Waddle, no doubt he wanted to play and practice against the Texans simply because of geography. He grew up in Houston.
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