Dolphins ‘holding out hope’ that DeVante Parker will play — and here’s why

By all appearances, DeVante Parker’s injured ankle is making real progress. He strolled through the Dolphins locker room earlier this week with no sign of a limp or a walking boot.

And while he has yet to practice this week, the Dolphins had not ruled him out for Sunday’s game against the Jets.

“He is feeling much better,” a source told the Miami Herald. That source would not speculate on whether Parker had progressed to the point where will play Sunday.

The Dolphins are playing this one close to the vest, for the obvious reasons:

1. They do not want to give the Jets any more information than they have to.

And 2. They simply do not know if he will be healthy enough to play Sunday.

“We still just keep holding out hope,” offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said Thursday. “He’s had some Lazarus experiences out there where he’s showed up at the last second from the dead, so we still keep hoping. We’re so used to it now. I’m not saying that to be cute, we’re just used to it. People fill in and you go and we get a big play out of ‘19’ (Jakeem Grant) and so that’s just the way it is. I think the whole league, but certainly Miami, we kind of thrive on that stuff. It’s harder without him. It’s harder without him but guys fill in and go, and we’re kind of built for that, so that’s a plus.”

Without Parker on Sunday, the Dolphins went heavy, playing more multiple tight-end sets than they have all year. But Christensen said that had more to do with a favorable matchup the team saw in film study than Parker’s unavailability.

As for this week’s game plan?

“I think you make your plans without him,” Christensen said. “If you get him, he’s a bonus; but you can’t afford to base a ton on him and then all of a sudden he doesn’t play. I think you kind of make your game plan without him and if he shows up, great. Then we’ll adjust from there. We’ll find some ways to give him a couple of shots and then he’ll just fit into the game plan.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2017 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Dolphins ‘holding out hope’ that DeVante Parker will play — and here’s why."