MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas is in danger of missing a third consecutive game with his ankle injury.
At Thursday’s session before Sunday’s home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Douglas was again not seen participating in drills.
He was working out on the side as he works toward a return from the ailing ankle, first hurt in the Sept. 20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Douglas, who led Miami with 94 receiving yards in the opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, already missed games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings.
Coach Jeff Hafley has called the rangy 6-foot-4 receiver day to day but said Wednesday Douglas’ ankle wasn’t quite ready for a return to practice.
If Douglas misses Sunday’s 1 p.m. kickoff against Cincinnati, it’ll mean more than a month that he misses, since the Dolphins bye week follows.
As Miami continues to monitor the status of its budding wide receiver, the top two Bengals pass-catchers have their statuses up in the air this week.
Elite All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase advanced in concussion protocol to returning to practice Thursday, according to reports out of Cincinnati. Fellow Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who is dealing with groin and neck issues, was not participating but reportedly working out on the rehab field at Bengals practice.
Aside from Douglas, defensive end Rob Beal Jr. (hamstring), cornerback Reese Taylor (quadriceps) and linebacker Jackson Woodard (ankle) were not seen practicing again Thursday. Woodard was with the team during stretch to start the session, but he then worked out on the side during special teams and individual drills.
Tight end Justin Joly, who was not on the injury report Wednesday, was not spotted during Thursday’s practice.
Wide receiver Chris Bell (knee), cornerback JuJu Brents (heel) and long snapper Tucker Addington (shoulder) all appear to remain limited. Addington is still in a red, non-contact jersey.
Unsung hero
As the Dolphins have had some fine moments in run defense in the first quarter of the season, Hafley touted the play of second-year defensive tackle Jordan Phillips.
When the 6-foot-3, 324-pound nose tackle consumes multiple blockers, that allows Dolphins linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Jordyn Brooks to roam free and see the high tackle production. While fellow defensive tackle Zach Sieler had two sacks and and edge rushers Chop Robinson and Josh Uche each had another against the Vikings, Phillips helped with some of the dirty work on the line when it comes to the pass rush, too.
“The unsung hero in the game is Jordan Phillips,” Hafley said Wednesday. “Because the stat line is never going to be like as much as (edge rusher) Chop Robinson, but when I turn on the tape and there’s three guys blocking him and he’s still throwing them off and he’s making a play or there’s three guys blocking him, so now Rodriguez has 18 tackles, right?
Those are the unsung heroes of the game. The guys doing the dirty work that are grinding on double teams and getting 650 pounds on him the whole entire game. Like, that’s not fun and you don’t get rewarded for it.”
— The Dolphins announced a practice squad move Thursday, releasing defensive tackle Keith Cooper Jr. and adding back edge rusher Amari Gainer onto the practice squad. Cooper went from the active roster to getting bumped down to the practice squad and now off the team entirely in a matter of about 10 days.