Dolphins sign former UM standout. And updates from McDaniel on injuries, Tagovailoa plan
The Dolphins, who have been missing five wide receivers because of injuries, signed former Miami Hurricanes receiver Mike Harley on Tuesday. Guard Chasen Hines was released to make room on the 90-man roster.
Miami remains without Jaylen Waddle and Braxton Berrios, who are nursing “minor” injuries, coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday. Odell Beckham Jr. remains on the physically unable to perform list and hasn’t practiced at all during training camp, though he appears to be running well. Erik Ezukanma remains out for an unspecified period with an undisclosed injury. Also, Anthony Schwartz was not seen at Wednesday’s practice.
Harley, who auditioned for the Dolphins on Wednesday morning, is UM’s all-time receptions leader with 182.
Harley, 26, signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted rookie in May 2022 and spent that season on the team’s practice squad. He also spent 2023 training camp with Cleveland and spent some time last year with the DC Defenders of the UFL.
Harley, a Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas graduate, finished his UM career with 2158 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.
The Dolphins also worked out Deon Cain, a former Clemson standout who has nine career receptions for 124 yards. Last year, the 6-2 Cain caught 16 passes for 182 yards and three TDs for the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions.
Miami also worked out veteran 5-9 receiver Damiere Byrd, who was released by Washington this week. He has 130 catches for 1689 yards and seven touchdowns in his career but appeared in only one game (for Atlanta) last season.
The Dolphins did not work out any nationally famous receivers among the four who auditioned on Wednesday. Jarvis Landry and Michael Thomas remain prominent names still available but neither worked out for the team.
Miami needed help at the position because of a flurry of injuries. Waddle and Berrios haven’t practiced this week.
McDaniel said Wednesday that their injuries are “minor stuff, not major stuff. We understand [Waddle’s] body, understand how tough he is, understand how to be proactive. He’s one of the toughest wide receivers I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach.”
Meanwhile, Ezukanma hasn’t practiced in a week and the team has declined to speculate when he might return. Rookie seventh-rounder Tahj Washington likely will miss the season with an undisclosed injury.
Tyreek Hill, River Cracraft, Braylon Sanders, Malik Washington, Willie Snead IV, JeQuan Burton, Anthony Schwartz and Kyric McGowan have been the team’s only healthy receivers in recent days.
Washington, the fifth-round rookie, “is getting better with mistakes,” McDaniel said. “And I’m expecting mistakes. The game is very different [from college], as far as timing and the details with which you do your job. The huddling and all the motioning. What Malik has done very well is find how to be a professional very quickly. He’s operating as a vet would, how he’s studying his ownership of the playbook and how reliable he is.”
McDaniel addressed other issues before Wednesday’s joint practice with the Atlanta Falcons:
▪ He strongly suggested that Tua Tagovailoa would not play on Friday against the Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium (7 p.m., CBS-4). Tagovailoa didn’t play in the preseason opener last year.
▪ McDaniel said the competition between Mike White and Skylar Thompson for the backup quarterback job “is neck and neck. It was a pretty close race last year, with Mike winning it. They’ve continued to develop their games and do really good things. Each individual is better than where they were last year.”
McDaniel said he ideally likes to play the backup quarterbacks with players with whom they played a lot of snaps in practice, but that’s often difficult. He prefers to play both backup quarterbacks in most or all preseason games instead of using just one in a particular game.
▪ Speaking about Tuesday’s first joint practice with the Falcons, McDaniel said “I saw on defense, a spirit that I was very confident in. The connectivity from Anthony Weaver down, the coaching staff to the players, was on display and I was pumped about that.
“Offensively, understanding how unique an opportunity it is, I’m looking specifically for things about our game. I’m not concerned with the result. I was looking for tangible things we were working on since April.”
▪ McDaniel said Liam Eichenberg, the first-team right guard, deserves a chance at one spot “to see where his technique can go. He hasn’t had that advantage necessarily based on the past two years” where he was needed at multiple positions, including backup center.
McDaniel said Eichenberg has improved and “is playing with more conviction. Liam being right guard is best served for him and the group, but guys are pushing.”
Rob Jones is the first-team left guard, and McDaniel said “I’m seeing a new Rob Jones.”
He said that “Lester Cotton is doing a phenomenal job. Jack Driscoll is getting some reps in there.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2024 at 10:03 AM.
