McDaniel Provides Key Injury Updates on Dolphins Stars

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel spoke to the media before organized team activities on Wednesday and gave some key updates about players returning from injuries this season. 

Several players the Dolphins will rely on heavily this season are coming off season-ending injuries, and OTAs are the first opportunity to see where they’re at in their rehab process.  

Here are the updates McDaniel gave about how much those players are expected to participate in OTAs. 

Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips 

Chubb and Phillips both received positive updates from McDaniel, indicating that both players will be active participants this week. 

“They’re both able to participate in most things on most days, being cautious and using the science on their recovery,” McDaniel said. “Depends on what day you’re out there, but you’ll probably see one if not both. There will be a day or two where we’ll have to back off that, but we’re very happy with where they’re at. They’re the most excited practice players of all time right now.”  

Chubb is coming off a torn ACL, and Phillips is coming off two straight season-ending injuries, including the torn ACL he suffered last season. 

Phillips appeared in a hype video released by the team from the previous phase of the offseason program, and he was rewarded for his quick rehab process by wearing the orange practice jersey on Tuesday. 

James Daniels, Austin Jackson 

Based on McDaniel’s comments, fans shouldn’t expect to see much of Daniels during OTAs. However, the team is happy about where he’s at in his recovery from a torn Achilles he suffered in Week 4 of last season. 

“James is still working back, but we like where he’s at in his recovery and that process,” McDaniel said. “The biggest thing for him is that he’s been an active participant within the film room, knowing that he’s new to the system and what we want to do and how we want to utilize his skill set.”

Daniels will be under a lot of pressure this season, as he was the team’s biggest free agent signing and will be partly responsible for solving the team’s longstanding issues at guard. 

As for Jackson, McDaniel said he’s “further along” than Daniels. Jackson suffered a season-ending knee injury in November, which was a big reason the team’s running game struggled down the stretch.  

Tyreek Hill

Hill has had an eventful offseason off the field, which included having a second surgery on his wrist earlier this month. The former All-Pro had his first surgery in February, following the end of the Dolphins’ season.

Still, McDaniel seems happy with Hill’s progress and how much he’s been involved in the team’s offseason program thus far. 

“Tyreek has done a great job being proactive for when he got the surgery done, and making sure he’s able to do as much as he can with the team,” McDaniel said. Which has included his daily participation in how he attacks our strength program, whether he’s able to run routes and not block, quarterbacks have gotten used to him getting routes run. He’s been participating above and beyond.” 

The injury may have been one of the reasons Hill had a down season in 2024. It was the first time in his career he wasn’t selected to the Pro Bowl, and it was the first time since 2019 that he didn’t record at least 1,000 yards receiving.

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