The Dolphins traveled to Los Angeles on Saturday with their star receiver nursing a wrist injury and their right tackle now sidelined.
Receiver Tyreek Hill, slowed this past week by a wrist injury, did not practice on Friday and Saturday and was listed as questionable for the Dolphins’ game at the Rams on Monday night (8:15 p.m., ESPN, CBS-4). Coach Mike McDaniel said Saturday that it’s uncertain if Hill will play.
Also, right tackle Austin Jackson was ruled out for Monday’s game because of a knee injury; he’s the only player on the 53-man roster who has been ruled out.
McDaniel said it’s undetermined if Jackson will require surgery, but if he does, it likely would not be season-ending. Jackson played every snap against Buffalo, but the injury surfaced subsequently. Kendall Lamm is expected to start at right tackle on Monday.
In addition to Hill, the Dolphins also listed safeties Jevon Holland (knee) and Patrick McMorris (calf), fullback Alec Ingold (calf) and receiver River Cracraft (shoulder) as questionable for Monday’s game.
McDaniel said he’s optimistic that Holland and Ingold will play; both were limited in practice Saturday. The coach suggested that McMorris, who practiced fully Saturday, is more likely to be activated from injured reserve after Monday’s game, or beyond.
Cracraft, who hasn’t played since a preseason shoulder injury but practiced fully on Saturday, is “ready to play” and “there’s a chance for sure” that he will be activated off injured reserve for Monday’s game, McDaniel said.
Several players who had missed time because of injuries – defensive lineman Zach Sieler, cornerbacks Kader Kohou and Storm Duck and tight end Julian Hill – do not have an injury designation and will play Monday.
As for Tyreek Hill, McDaniel said Saturday that it’s unclear if the star receiver will play because of a wrist injury that was re-aggravated this week. Hill appeared to sustain the injury during Sunday’s game at Buffalo but played through it.
But the injury has been “heating up” this week, McDaniel said, adding the team wanted to “let it cool down.”
When Hill sustained a foot injury two weeks ago, McDaniel expressed optimism that he would play the following game, and Hill played.
In the case of this injury, McDaniel was more cautious, saying he’s neither optimistic nor pessimistic.
“He’s doing everything possible to play,” McDaniel said. “We will see how he responds. I’m optimistic he will do everything he can. I wouldn’t say I’m optimistic or pessimistic” about whether he will play in Monday’s game.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins created an open spot on their 53-man roster by releasing second-year defensive tackle Brandon Pili, who had two tackles and 69 defensive snaps in eight games.
Though McDaniel initially expected receiver Dee Eskridge to miss Monday’s game for a personal reason, he has returned to the team and will play Monday, according to the Dolphins.
THIS AND THAT
▪ Quarterback coach Darrell Bevell suggested there will be competition between Skylar Thompson and Tyler Huntley for the No. 2 quarterback job when Huntley returns from a shoulder injury. Because Huntley is on injured reserve, he must sit out two more games.
When the Jacksonville Jaguars poached veteran C.J. Beathard off the Dolphins practice squad this week, Miami essentially chose to keep Thompson over Beathard.
“Skylar has improved every year,” Bevell said Friday. “He works his tail off. Are there there things he can improve on? Yeah. We’re working on that everyday.”
The Dolphins did not sign a practice squad quarterback this week, leaving them with only two QBs in the building: Tua Tagovailoa and Thompson.
“It’s not necessary necessarily to have a guy on the practice squad,” Bevell said. “Tua takes every rep with the first group.”
▪ Tucker Addington, who’s on the practice squad, will be the Dolphins’ long snapper for the Rams game. McDaniel indicated Saturday that Blake Ferguson will be brought back from injured reserve, potentially next week.
If Huntley and Ferguson come off injured reserve later in November as expected, that would leave the Dolphins with only two more players who can be brought back off injured reserve, following Tagovailoa, Cam Smith, Cracraft and safety McMorris, who remains on IR but already has been designated to return.
Teams can bring back eight players off injured reserve each season.
Outside linebackers Bradley Chubb and Cam Goode and guard Isaiah Wynn – none of whom are yet practicing – would not count toward the eight because they are on the physically unable to perform list.
▪ Rookie edge player Chop Robinson was heartened to get his first NFL sack against Buffalo.
“A lot of games, I’ve been close,” he said. “I knew it was coming. Just a matter of time.”
As a first-round pick, did he feel pressure to get the first sack?
“I wouldn’t put pressure on myself about it, but I know a lot of people on the outside don’t really understand what it takes,” he said. “They can’t come out here and do what I do. I don’t pay attention to it.”
Among those who texted him after the sack: Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes, who told him “congratulations but you’ve got more work to do.”
Robinson meets with Chubb every week to discuss what he’s doing well and what he could have done better.
In the meantime, Robinson has been decent against the run.
“Once I stop the run, I feel like pass-rushing is just what I love to do,” he said. “I earned it. I earned the right to pass rush, and when that happens, I can just go out there and be free.”
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