Miami Dolphins lose veteran receiver to major injury. And notes on Tua, Gesicki, corners
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Monday:
▪ One veteran player was removed from the competitive battle for a roster spot at wide receiver on Monday, when a source confirmed that Allen Hurns has a wrist injury that will require surgery and sideline him three months.
Hurns - who opted out of last season - had been one of a handful of receivers on the bubble for a roster spot.
Unlike some teams, the Dolphins are waiting until Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline to trim their roster from 90 to 85. (In the Dolphins’ case, it’s from 91 to 86 because of a roster exemption for offensive lineman Durval Queiroz-Neto.)
But Miami made two roster moves Monday, adding Khalil McClain to an injury-riddled wide receiver room and releasing tight end Carson Meier. McClain, a long shot to make the final 53-man roster, caught 32 passes for 383 yards and six touchdowns as a senior at Troy in 2020, went undrafted and spent 2 1/2 months this summer with the Bears, who waived him July 28.
The Dolphins have been without injured receivers DeVante Parker, Will Fuller, Albert Wilson and Preston Williams. Including those four and Hurns, there are 15 wide receivers on the roster.
▪ Mike Gesicki, who had strong chemistry with Ryan Fitzpatrick, is starting to develop that with Tua Tagovailoa.
“I feel great with Tua back there,” he said after their 50-yard completion on Saturday against Chicago.
“I feel really comfortable. I feel like we’re on the same page. He’s doing a great job of trusting his progression, picking a matchup that you like and going to it. That’s where I’ve got to be dependable, be detailed in my assignment and go out and make a play.”
Gesicki was just getting started.
“It’s great for a receiver like myself to understand that Tua is going to put the ball where it needs to be,” he said. “He puts good touch on it. It’s a very easily catchable ball. He’s extremely accurate. On that third down on my second catch, he can put it away from the defender and he can put it low where only I can go get it, so it makes it easier for me to know when I’m coming out of break that the ball is going to be here. It’s not like, ‘Where is the ball?’ and you’ve got to track it.
“You know where it’s going to be. I just want to be ready and just let him know that if things break down or it’s a big play or it’s third down or we’re in the red zone, I’m going to be there and I’m going to be dependable.”
▪ This Dolphins regime prides itself on developing young defensive linemen and cornerbacks, and Zach Sieler and Nik Needham are two success stories who were helpful pieces last season and should be again this season.
On Saturday, two young cornerbacks continued to make a case for one of the final roster spots, if Miami keeps six corners.
Trill Williams, the undrafted Syracuse rookie who has flashed throughout camp, did not allow a completion on two targets.
Javaris Davis, who has impressed coaches with a very good camp, had tight coverage, forcing an incompletion on one play. The two other passes thrown against him were caught for a combined 18 yards. And Davis nearly picked off a pass that was deflected by Clayton Fejedelem.
Needham — who will assuredly be on the team — also had a strong game, allowing two completions in four targets for 15 yards. Because Justin Coleman seems to have a stranglehold on the slot job in nickel packages, Needham looks like the team’s best boundary cornerback option if Xavien Howard or Byron Jones is unavailable.
The only completion allowed by Coleman on Saturday went for 1 yard.
As for Noah Igbinoghene, he allowed three of four passes to be caught for 44 yards.
If Miami keeps six corners and considers Jason McCourty a safety, then Williams, Davis, Cre’Von LeBlanc, Tino Ellis, Terrell Bonds, safety/corner Jamal Perry and essentially NFL corner who’s put on waivers during the next three weeks would be competing for that sixth job.
▪ There were four players who didn’t get in Saturday’s game who weren’t identified by the Dolphins as injured or being rested: third-year guard Neto, rookie cornerback Jaytlin Askew, rookie defensive tackle Jerome Johnson and offensive tackle Timon Parris. All are long shots for the 53.
Those who played the fewest snaps were running back Patrick Laird and injured tight end Cethan Carter on offense (six snaps apiece) and starting linebacker Benardrick McKinney (five snaps).
Duke Riley replaced McKinney in some packages. It looks like McKinney will be used on clear running downs. Riley is the better linebacker in pass coverage.
Incidentally, Riley and offensive tackle Adam Pankey played the most snaps in the game for Miami; each had 44 on defense and offense, respectively.
▪ The battle for the fourth running back job remains, as expected, unresolved. Rookie seventh-rounder Gerrid Doaks was tackled for a three-yard loss on what should have been a significant gain in Saturday’s game -- this after dropping two passes in practice during the past 10 days.
Jordan Scarlett ran for 8 yards on his only carry. Laird ran 3 times for 12 yards.
Laird, a good special teams player, got nine special teams snaps on Saturday; Doaks six and Scarlett three.
▪ Receivers coach Josh Grizzard suggested he had a feeling Lynn Bowden Jr. would show up well once games started, after a slow training camp, and Bowden delivered, catching all four targets for 47 yards against Chicago.
The hunch here — purely a hunch — is that Mack Hollins and Bowden end up the fifth and sixth receivers on this team, behind DeVante Parker, Will Fuller, Jaylen Waddle and Albert Wilson.
The wild card is Jakeem Grant, who should be on the team or command something in the trade market from a team needing a returner. And Robert Foster is an interesting player — with speed, size and special teams value — who shouldn’t be ruled out.
Bonus note:
▪ Tagovailoa stuck out his shoulder to try to make a tackle after his interception Saturday. Flores doesn’t have a problem with that, despite the injury risk.
“Yeah, I think that’s what he’s got to do,” Flores said. “In that instance, offensive players become defensive players. I thought Myles Gaskin made a very nice tackle on that, which kind of set us up in decent field position defensively, which turned into a stop and then good field position for us on the next offensive series.
“We talk to our guys about, if there is a turnover, you’ve just got to move on. We’re not going to just sit there and be upset about it. We’ve got to move on and try to get the defensive player on the ground and play the next play. Tua and really the entire offense did that. Everybody was running after the ball carrier.”
Here’s my Monday piece on the Dolphins’ defensive line.
Here’s my Monday piece on the state of the UM football program and one concern.
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 5:26 PM.
