MIAMI GARDENS — When Dolphins tight end Darren Waller announced his presence in Miami in his debut with the team, he did so with two touchdowns on the national stage against the Dolphins’ divisional foe they face again on Sunday.
In the Sept. 29 “Monday Night Football” win over the New York Jets, Waller, after missing the first three games of the season, caught two touchdowns among his three receptions on four targets.
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As the Dolphins travel near New York for this season’s second installment of the AFC East rivalry, coach Mike McDaniel must weigh how much he can continue to exploit that matchup that worked well the first time around against a divisional foe that is sure to make adjustments.
For McDaniel, though, he’s more concerned about managing Waller’s workload in a second game back from injured reserve due to a pectoral ailment.
“I think the trickier rep for me is not being irresponsible to him and the organization, to everyone, about the first week back… it’s just tricky,” McDaniel said Wednesday ahead of the week’s first practice in preparation for the trip to MetLife Stadium. “You have a plan and then you don’t, and you have to just make sure that you don’t overcook him. Realistically, for him too, I think he was fired up to get that game, to feel good about the game, to win the game, and then to get through it because then you can approach the next week with more knowns.”
Waller made two catches, both in the first quarter, in Sunday’s 21-17 win over the New Orleans Saints. But then he was only targeted once the remainder of the game.
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“There were times he was the primary and we progressed because he was taken away,” McDaniel said Monday. “They get the memo, too; they started the game completely committed to getting hands on (Jaylen) Waddle and left him a little vulnerable. They made some corrections. We actually got two explosive plays, one to Waddle and one to Greg (Dulcich), that he was the primary but they overcooked their coverage on him, kind of overcommitted to him.”
Waller’s first game against the Jets was his debut with Miami because he was recovering from a preseason hip injury as he came out of retirement to play this season with the Dolphins.
This story will be updated.