Tannehill as a receiver? It almost happened Sunday (and probably will at some point)

Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill was this close to playing wide receiver Sunday.

If only for a snap.

Tannehill split out wide — which, you might have heard, is where he played for the start of his college career — when Albert Wilson lined up in the shotgun as the Dolphins’ Wildcat quarterback.

Alas, coach Adam Gase called timeout before the ball was snapped, so we don’t know what play Miami planned to run.

“Not even a snap,” Tannehill said, with a bit of incredulity, when asked what it was like to play receiver again. “What was that, about three seconds? That was uneventful.”

Still, the Dolphins know that Tannehill can catch the ball, when asked.

He had 112 receptions for 1,596 yards and 10 touchdowns at Texas A&M.

And he actually has two catches as a pro (although only one on a designed play; the other was the result of a batted pass).

That intentional catch, which occurred on Nov. 8, 2015, went for 9 yards. Jarvis Landry was the passer after taking the ball on a reverse.

The way Tannehill remembers it, Landry’s accuracy was lacking.

“It should have been a touchdown but he threw it behind me,” Tannehill said. “I sound like a true receiver, right?”

He might get another chance soon. One Dolphins offensive player said, when asked about the Wildcat being shown but not run: “It’s a long season.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2018 at 3:59 PM.