MIAMI GARDENS — Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who received treatment for hamstring ailments Thursday, is expected to play Sunday against Atlanta.
Still, anything that slows Waddle deals another blow to a Dolphins passing game that’s already been been significantly slowed due to an injured reserve list that includes wide receiver Tyreek Hill (knee), tight end Darren Waller (pectoral), right guard James Daniels (pectoral) and right tackle Austin Jackson (toe).
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Coach Mike McDaniel called Waddle’s hamstring problems “just the rigors of football. He’s treating them and I expect him to play.”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (11 touchdowns, 10 interceptions) will lead the Dolphins’ passing game against the league’s No. 1 pass defense (141.2 passing yards allowed per game), and Tagovailoa is coming off back-to-back three-interception games.
Atlanta’s six interceptions are tied for sixth in the league, and quarterbacks have a 75.1 passer rating against the Falcons, which is second-lowest in the league, and they’re only completing 59% of their passes, with is third-lowest in the league.
The Falcons don’t have a big pass rush (their 15 sacks are only one more than the Dolphins’ 14 sacks). But they’ve only allowed seven touchdown passes, and their secondary, led by safeties Xavier Watts and Jessie Bates III, and cornerbacks A.J. Terrell Jr. and Mike Hughes, have been reasonably good.
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Backup QB competition still unsettled
McDaniel said the backup quarterback battle between Quinn Ewers, the rookie seventh-round pick, and Zach Wison, the No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft, remains unsettled. McDaniel said they’ve both had their “best week of practice by far” and he said the backup quarterback battle behind Tagovailoa has been “well-responded to, something you don’t know going into it what was going to play out.”
McDaniel said the Dolphins have “some stuff set up (Friday) and we’ll be evaluating it closely.” Ewers was surprsingly promoted over Wilson last Saturday, one day before the 31-6 loss at Cleveland, because McDaniel said he thought Ewers gave them a better chance to beat the Browns.
TE Julian Hill sidelined; injury update
Tight end Julian Hill (anlkle) won’t play Sunday against the Falcons, McDaniel said. But the news at tight end isn’t all bad. McDaniel said he doesn’t get the sense Waller’s injury is season-ending. Waller, who has also battled a hip injury since coming out of retirement to join the Dolphins during the summer, was placed on the injured reserve list last week with a pectoral injury sustained in the Cleveland game.
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Safety Elijah Campbell (quadricep) and cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. (hamstring) were both limited in Thursday’s practice. The week’s final injury report is expected to be released around 4 p.m. Friday.
Wright possibly making a move
Second-year running back Jaylen Wright, who has batled injury issues, could be making a move to surpass rookie Ollie Gordon II for the backup running job behind starter De’Von Achane. Both McDaniel and offensive coordinator Frank Smith have said Wright has looked good in practice recently.
Offensive challenge is playing clean game
Smith hit on a familiar theme this week, and that’s playing efficient, effective football. Smith was asked what he wants to see from Tagovailoa against the Falcons.
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“Not only Tua, I think it’s just collectively as an offense is making sure we’re functioning together and we’re playing well together and we stop doing the things that put ourselves behind schedule or put ourselves in positions that make it hard for us to overcome as a team,” he said.
To that end, consider the Dolphins are tied for the league lead with 12 giveaways (10 interceptions, 2 lost fumbles). The Dolphins’ minus-6 turnover margin is third-worst in the league.
Sieler slump has to do with young DTs
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said one factor in defensive tackle Zach Sieler’s disappointing season (no sacks, three quarterback hits, three tackles for loss) is that he’s playing beside rookie defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phllips instead of veterans such as Christian Wilkins and Calais Campbell.
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“We’re kind of in and out of putting outside backers in there, bigs in there, when you think about a lot of the success he’s had, it’s been with Christian Wilkins, a guy that he can just look at and they know what they want to do,” Weaver said. Calais has played…there isn’t a thing he’s heard or hasn’t seen, it was easy for them to kind of form that connection.
“With guys kind of being in and out of the lineup, I think that’s hurt Zach more than anything. It’s not anything he’s doing, it’s just more the cohesion of the rushers he’s been paired with.”
Dolphins aware of illegal contact penalties
The Dolphins are tied for 14th in the league in penalties with 49, and tied for 18th with 389 penalty yards. One area that’s hurt them has been illegal contact penalties by defensive backs. The Dolphins have been flagged three times for illegal contact, tied for second-most in the league. That’s an area to watch with Atlanta wide receiver Drake London being an opponent this week.
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“Those have occurred particularly on big downs for us, the third-and-;longer situations,” Weaver said. “I remember early this season, you go back to Indy and New England, we’re second and long, we’re getting called for (illegal contact). Those penalties we’ve got to clean up because we got to make sure if those are being focused on by the league, we obviously have to adjust the way we’re playing.”
Related ArticlesAnother game, another young QB
The Dolphins will likely face Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the No. 8 pick of the 2024 draft on Sunday. The Dolphins have taken some lumps against first- and second-year quarterbacks in the coach Mike McDaniel era, including losing last week to Cleveland rookie Dillon Gabriel.
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Other young quarterbacks who have defeated the Dolphins recently include Tennessee’s Will Levis (2023), San Francisco’s Brock Purdy (2022), Zach Wilson of the New York Jets (2022), New England’s Mac Jones (2022), Indianapolis’ Anthony Richardson (2024), and Houston’s C.J. Stroud (2024).
By the way, Penix is the second straight left-handed quarterback the Dolphins will face after facing Gabriel last week.
This story will be updated.