{"id":871481,"date":"2026-04-21T22:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/871481\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:56:21","slug":"malik-washington-steps-into-spotlight-as-miami-wr-group-adjusts-after-hill-waddle-departures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/871481\/","title":{"rendered":"Malik Washington steps into spotlight as Miami WR group adjusts after Hill, Waddle departures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.  \u2014 As the Miami Dolphins\u2019 wide receiver room undergoes a full overhaul following the releases of Tyreek Hill and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/sports\/local\/2026\/03\/17\/dolphins-trade-wr-jaylen-waddle-to-broncos-for-1st-round-pick-draft-swaps-report\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/sports\/local\/2026\/03\/17\/dolphins-trade-wr-jaylen-waddle-to-broncos-for-1st-round-pick-draft-swaps-report\/\">trade of Jaylen Waddle<\/a>, Malik Washington on Tuesday said the focus inside the building remains unchanged: compete and play at a higher level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Washington said the group isn\u2019t framing the turnover as a burden, but as an opportunity for everyone in the room to earn a bigger role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re seeing it as we have to step up or embrace a certain challenge,\u201d Washington said. \u201cWe just have to play our best football. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been born to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">With a reshaped receiver group that now includes Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell, Washington said the mindset is centered on daily competition rather than depth chart labels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cLike any job, you bring somebody in, you\u2019re going to have to compete with that person,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to try to stand out regardless of who we bring in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Washington also described a leadership approach built on consistency, especially as Miami works through the early stages of the offseason program without on-field practices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m trying to be the fastest wide receiver in the room, the strongest guy in the room, and the smartest guy in the meeting room,\u201d he said. \u201cSo when the coaches bring up my name, it\u2019s only positive things being said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He added that building chemistry with new quarterback Malik Willis has come naturally, pointing to Willis\u2019 quick adjustment in the locker room and command of the offense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s come in right away and felt like he\u2019s always been here,\u201d Washington said. \u201cJust the release that he has, how quick it is, how well he gets the ball out. He knows how to command an offense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Washington, who is looking to have a breakout season after 317 yards and three touchdowns in 2025, said new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has emphasized a simple message about his role moving forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cBe you. Take command, do what you\u2019ve always done, and let the rest take care of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Despite the departures of established playmakers, Washington said the tone in the receiver room has stayed steady.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s already understood,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to step up by example, and you have to step up vocally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 As the Miami Dolphins\u2019 wide receiver room undergoes a full overhaul following the releases&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,216,251,2087,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-871481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-dolphins","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-dolphins","12":"tag-miamidolphins","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116445170176409617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}