UPDATE: Video and photo evidence of Williams injury suffered during Arizona game
Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores announced Wednesday morning that receiver Preston Williams is going on the injured reserve list because of a foot injury he suffered after catching a touchdown pass against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
The injury robs the Dolphins of a starter who led the team in yards per catch average (16.0) and touchdown receptions (4). So that’s unfortunate for the Dolphins.
But what’s frustrating for anyone familiar with this injury is that it possibly didn’t have to happen.
Because it might have happened during the celebration that came after that second-quarter touchdown against the Cardinals.
Update: Upon further digging, I’ve uncovered a photo that also suggests the injury might have happened during the tackle.
So you’ll decide for yourselves:
Video of the CBS Sports broadcast shows that when Williams caught what would become his 9-yard touchdown, he leapt into the end zone as a Cardinals defender grabbed him by the lower leg around the foot.
Except the defender grabbed Williams by the left foot.
After that attempted tackle failed, Williams got up with no problem and began to dance his way across the end zone. So, despite coming down on his right foot also, no sign of injury.
Update: Here’s the photo of the right foot coming down and it is not pretty. Williams basically compresses the front of his right foot into the turf. So is this the cause of the injury?
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At any rate, after Williams danced around for a few seconds, he reached the quarter of the end zone closest to the Dolphins’ sideline, defensive lineman Christian Wilkins appeared to leave the bench area and jumped on Williams to join the celebration.
Immediately after that Williams began to clearly favor his right foot — the foot closest to Wilkins. And soon he began to limp noticeably and had to be helped to the Miami bench. Williams was eventually carted off the field and did not return to the game.
So the mystery offers evidence on both sides.
Injured reserve rules state Williams must miss a minimum of three games. He may miss more if he suffered a fracture.
All this ... perhaps over a celebration.
On Monday, Flores was asked about the injury occurring during the impromptu celebration with Wilkins. First he said the celebration didn’t cause the injury but later conceded he didn’t know.
“Honestly, when or how it happened — I don’t think that’s what happened,” Flores said. “How it happened? That’s not on the coach’s [film] copy, but it looked like it was during the play, based on what I saw. But I don’t know.
“Maybe it was somewhere else. Obviously some other people saw something else. I think the thing is that he suffered an injury and hopefully — look, he’ll do everything he can to get back and we’ll just evaluate it day to day and take it one day at a time.”
Williams’ day-to-day status on Monday is now a month-to-month status.
“It’s a big loss,” Flores said. “Preston has made a lot of plays for us over the first half of the season; but we’ve got guys who will step in. Jakeem [Grant] stepped in for him last week. Mack Hollins stepped in and had a big play. Kirk Merritt was up last week, played well in the kicking game, played a little bit offensively. And you mentioned Lynn Bowden Jr. So yeah, I think it’s kind of how we have to approach this.”
This kind of stuff is not unprecedented in Dolphins lore.
On Nov. 30, 1981 during a nationally telecast Monday Night Football game, receiver Duriel Harris caught a touchdown pass in the old Orange Bowl and jumped in the air, apparently to jazz up his spiking of the football.
He landed wrong and injured his knee.. He missed the remainder of the season.
So what’s the point here?
Celebrations are good. But 300-pound men jumping on 200-pound teammates should probably be addressed by Flores as unwise.
Because whether it cost the Dolphins in this instance or not, the unintended consequence could possibly hurt the team in the future.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 11:22 AM.
