Dolphins hopeful best receivers available Sunday. But group’s durability is a concern | Opinion
The Miami Dolphins reported three wide receivers on their injury reports this week.
DeVante Parker has been limited with a hamstring injury he’s been fighting since training camp and caused him to miss the second half of the regular-season opener against New England. Jakeem Grant, who replaced Parker in the lineup against New England, was limited with a calf injury.
And Preston Williams, who suffered an ACL injury in 2019, practiced fully as he’s working to get to 100 percent health.
The NFL season is one week old. And Dolphins receivers are already nursing injuries.
It’s not a season-deciding issue now as the Parker and Grant injuries are manageable. But it’s an issue the Dolphins might have to manage throughout the season. And it’s an issue the Dolphins should have predicted they’d likely need to manage.
Because with the exception of rookies Lynn Bowden and Malcolm Perry, who have yet to play in a league game, every one of Miami’s receivers has an NFL injury history.
Aside from Parker and Grant, who have their own history with injuries, Isaiah Ford missed all of 2017 with a knee injury, Mack Hollins missed all of 2018 with a groin injury, and Williams missed half of last season after his knee injury.
And knowing this, the Dolphins committed to all these players individually to form a group for which durability and availability could become a question mark.
It actually is already something of a question mark if you consider Parker.
He had an outstanding season in 2019, his best since being drafted in 2015. He caught 72 passes for 1,202 yards with nine touchdown catches. And in the middle of that epiphany of a season, the Dolphins rewarded Parker with a four-year, $31 million contract extension that carries him through 2024.
Except it came with the Dolphins knowing he’d never played a full 16-game season in his career. He completed that first full injury-free season last year but his history with injured hamstrings, a fractured hand and injured back had limited Parker each of the previous four seasons.
So was last year the turning point? Or was it an aberration?
We’ll see but the fact is Parker is already hurting. And his absence from the lineup in Sunday’s second half hurt the team.
“We had to change some things,” offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said. “Everybody runs a route differently. Jakeem is a good player but he runs things differently than DeVante does and we don’t have time on task from last year with [quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick] and Jakeem like we do Fitz and DeVante.
“It changes some things. It changes some thought processes. So you have to adjust, and I need to do a better job of adjusting when that happens. It’s the first time I’ve dealt with it with these guys, so hopefully I’ll be better the next time.”
Next time? The Dolphins believe Parker has a real chance of playing against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, according to colleague Adam Beasley. But hamstring injuries are annoying in that any routine extension of the muscle during a game can re-aggravate the problem. And that can put the team in a difficult situation.
And, yes, most NFL teams can overcome losing one receiver during a game. Except the Dolphins are already down two experienced receivers, remember?
Last November the team gave receiver Allen Hurns a two-year, $8 million contract extension. They did this knowing Hurns had missed 11 games in the previous three seasons. Hurns emerged relatively unscathed from the 2019 season, missing only two more games because of injury.
But on Aug. 4 he decided for personal reasons related to COVID-19 to not risk playing in 2020 and opted out. Two days later, receiver Albert Wilson also decided for personal reasons related to COVID-19 to opt out.
The Dolphins had restructured Wilson’s contract in May, cutting his pay to $3 million because he missed most of the 2018 season with a significant hip injury and had shown only slow but steady signs of recovery throughout 2019.
The team was not convinced enough in that progress to pay Wilson his full salary that included a $10 million salary cap number for 2020. But the Dolphins nonetheless guaranteed $1 million of Wilson’s new salary, showing their expectation for him this season.
So the Dolphins committed to two receivers with injury histories in keeping with their current track. And whatever reward they gain from that commitment will have to wait for 2021 at the earliest.
The Dolphins believe Grant will be available for Sunday’s game, barring a significant issue in practice Thursday or Friday.
That’s important because, again, if Parker goes down, Grant is the next man up. In that case Grant would be handling kickoffs, punt returns and receiver duties on a calf that he tweaked last week doing those very things.
“When it’s in-game, it’s always the next guy up,” receivers coach Josh Grizzard said. “You’ve got a plan for that week and then it’s adjusted to who is filling that. I thought Jakeem did a good job with the opportunities and just being able to step in.”
Grant is a tough guy despite being 5-7. But he has missed 12 games the past two seasons and finished both 2018 and ‘19 on injured reserve.
Despite his size and injuries, the Dolphins signed Grant to a four-year, $19.7 million contract in August of 2019.
So the Dolphins must hold their collective breath the remainder of this season and hope their best receivers, all of whom have injury histories, show durability. And show up.
“It’s definitely better,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said, “with our best guys on the field ...”
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
