Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses who’s in and out and whether to go up-tempo more
Mike McDaniel said Friday that the Dolphins expect to have receiver Jaylen Waddle available when Miami plays New England on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium (1 p.m., CBS-4). Waddle has been limited in practice this week because of a shoulder injury sustained against the Colts.
Five players on the 53-man roster are likely out for Sunday: right tackle Austin Jackson (toe), Storm Duck (ankle), tight end Darren Waller (hip), running back Jaylen Wright (knee) and defensive tackle Benito Jones (oblique).
Of those five players, only Wright practiced Thursday (on a limited basis). McDaniel said he’s likely out Sunday, but that’s not 100 percent certain.
For Sunday’s game, McDaniel ruled out Jackson and Jones (who were both injured during the Colts game) and Waller, who sustained a hip sprain last week just as he was set to begin practicing more. McDaniel previously said that Duck likely would miss a couple of weeks; he has been in a walking boot this week.
Cornerback Ethan Bonner returned to practice, at least on a limited basis on Friday, after missing more than three weeks with a hamstring injury. His status for Sunday is to be determined.
McDaniel addressed other issues during his Friday media briefing:
▪ On the players’ only meeting this week: “It is a part of how we do things based upon my beliefs and how we maximize investments and ownership. It’s important players feel they have the ability and desire to do that. It’s a little thrown out of proportion with regard to necessity. I didn’t ask what was going on in the meeting. I didn’t really care. I knew I would be at practice and see how they respond.”
McDaniel said there have been players’ only meetings “every year to some degree. It’s important the leaders of the locker room have a voice that’s heard. One way to do that is to isolate the players in the room and have a very transparent conversation.”
▪ Has McDaniel considered using more up-tempo offense?
“That’s something that has always been a part of our offense,” he said. “It’s all good until last game we had two up-tempo turnovers. It’s something we work on and use to our advantage when we see fit. There are always pluses and minuses to anything. Tempo offsets some of our motions.
“If you are going no-huddle, you are typically not motioning. It could make your motions more powerful. Tempo adds non-motion plays and snap count adjustments. We will be focused on both huddle and tempo plays protecting the ball.
“The most we did it was Pittsburgh in 2022. That game we did it a bunch. Some games we do it a lot. Sometimes we back off of it.”
How can playing up tempo help?
“Sometimes you avoid complex rush patterns and personnels, which can be a motivation when you keep your group on when you go no huddle second down to third down,” McDaniel said. “Maybe you think the defense is out of shape. Maybe you think they struggle communicating when they don’t have more time between snaps. It’s always something we have in our back pocket. Sometimes we use it. Sometimes we don’t.”
▪ Tua Tagovailoa is 7-0 against the Patriots, but the Dolphins are 0-2 against new Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. Those two losses came when Vrabel coached the Tennessee Titans.
Vrabel teams “always play hard,” McDaniel said. “His system defensively is built from New England days, but he has his own vision of it. It’s unified and connected. That’s the standard he had in Tennessee and carried over his short time in New England.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM.
