The Miami Dolphins are back from their bye, and the hope is they could get some key players back for their Week 7 game against the New York Jets.
But it probably won't be until Wednesday when the Dolphins are required to produce an officially injury report that we get a clearer idea on the status of players like Caleb Douglas and Jonah Savaiinaea, based on what head coach Jeff Hafley said before a lighter practice Monday.
Savaiinaea and cornerback JuJu Brents both missed the end of the Dolphins' last game, the Week 5 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. Additionally, cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. is eligible to return from PUP, and linebacker Trey Moore, safety Kyle Louis and linebacker Ronnie Harrison Jr. all are eligible to come off IR this week.
THE MALIK WILLIS WATCH
Quarterback Malik Willis was spotted during the portion open to the media at the Dolphins' one practice during their bye week, which was last Tuesday, but he didn't do any throwing.
Hafley said that Willis was dealing with an undisclosed issue, but he projected he would "be good to go" Monday and back to normal.
Willis appeared on the injury report earlier this season with a foot injury but dismissed the issue after the following game.
THE DOUGLAS DECISION
And then there's Douglas, the rookie third-round pick whose NFL career got off to such an impressive start with his 94-yard performance against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1.
Douglas has not practiced since he left the Week 2 loss against the San Francisco 49ers because of an ankle injury, and Hafley said he would be a limited participant in practice Monday with the hope that he'd be ready to go full speed Wednesday.
"We'll see how he looks today and progress to Wednesday, but I think there's optimism there," Hafley said. "Let's see how it goes today, and if we can get ramped up on Wednesday, be good to get him back out there. Just kind of looking back through the last couple weeks, watching some of the things that he did, we've missed him, and to see a rookie kind of have to stop and start like that, not ideal, but he's worked really hard, and it'd be great to get him back."
THE IR GUYS
Hafley's updates regading Savaiinaea and Brents were similar in that both would be limited Monday with the hope they'd be good to go when the full preparations for the Jets game begin in two days.
As for the players on injury lists, Moore is the only one with no shot to play this week, though that doesn't mean Baker, Harrison or Louis will be back at practice this week.
Based on Hafley saying he was "hoping" to get Louis back at practice Wednesday, we wouldn't expect the rookie fourth-round pick back this week. With Baker, when he returns to practice the Dolphins will have a three-week window to activate him from PUP.
This was the case with cornerback Storm Duck, whose three-week window expires Wednesday, meaning a decision on his status is coming this week.
Lastly, running back Jaylen Wright did have a setback with his foot injury during the game against the Bengals, so his status will have to be monitored throughout the week.
Add us as a preferred source on Google