The exact circumstances of the wrist injury that Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is dealing with may remain vague, but his outlook for this Sunday’s game against the Raiders is looking a little clearer on Thursday.
Hill was listed as a non-participant in practice on Wednesday, although that was an estimation because the team only held a walkthrough. The team was on the field for a regular practice session on Thursday and multiple reporters shared that Hill was participating during the portion open to the media.
Left guard Robert Jones (knee) and safety Jordan Poyer (rest) were also on the field after being listed as out on Wednesday.
Cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) remains out of action.
Coach Mike McDaniel isn’t worried about former Dolphins player DeShon Elliott questioning the Miami’s mental toughness.
Steelers safety DeShon Elliott, appearing on the Punch Line Podcast, called the Dolphins “soft as fuck” in reference to a 56-20 loss to the Ravens late last season. The Dolphins would have won the AFC East by beating the Ravens but instead ended the regular season with a loss to the Bills, too, to hand the division title to Buffalo.
Elliott left in the offseason to join the Steelers, who play podcast host Marlon Humphrey’s Ravens on Sunday.
“There were some guys who were tough, but the majority of the [Dolphins] were not mentally tough individuals,” Elliott told Humphrey on the podcast. “So to be on a [Steelers] team with a full team of mentally tough guys going against a mentally tough team . . . this is going to be fun.”
McDaniel declined to directly address Elliott’s damning claim.
“I am supremely only concerned with the 2024 Dolphins, for sure,” McDaniel said, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “Our team played a tough-fought game the past three weeks and ended up finding a way to win this past week. That’s not the easiest thing to do.
“I just worry about this year’s team. He said it on a podcast? Cool podcast.”
The Steelers and Dolphins do not play during the regular season.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw caution to the wind on Monday night, throwing himself in the path of linebacker Christian Rozeboom after an interception. Tagovailoa got lucky that he didn’t sustain his latest concussion.
He was asked on Wednesday what he saw when he watched the tape on film.
“I would say it didn’t feel as bad as what it probably looked like, may have looked like,” Tagovailoa told reporters. “When we watched it, our coach had said that he sort of kneed you in the head. Essentially you’re out there playing football; I didn’t necessarily feel that and I wasn’t just going to jump out of the way for him to just run down the sideline and potentially score. So you’ve got to make decisions and I should have never threw the pick in the first place so that’s it.”
So would he do anything different in a similar situation in the future?
“I wouldn’t do anything differently,” Tua said. “I’ll make the tackle, that’s what I’ve got to do. It is what it is. It’s hard to score in this league.”
It is hard to score. It’s also easy to suffer a brain injury. Given the manner in which the Dolphins struggled without Tua, it’s far better to give up a touchdown than to lose the team’s starting quarterback for a month, or longer.
Whether it’s his coping mechanism or a degree of courage that borders on stubborn recklessness, Tua seems to accept that concussions are a matter of fate. That they can’t be avoided. That it’s all predetermined.
Obviously, that’s not the case. Players have the ability to avoid, or at least to minimize, blows to the head. For whatever reason, Tua doesn’t want to think about that.
Maybe he believes that thinking about not getting hit in the head will keep him from playing to the best of his ability. However, he loses his ability to play if he keeps suffering brain injuries.
Yes, it takes bravery to step into the fray with full acceptance of the risk of injury. But Tua’s next concussion isn’t written in the stars he’ll be seeing. He has far more control over his health than he’s willing to admit.
From getting out of bounds, to sliding, to getting rid of the ball, to falling in a way that keeps his head from striking the ground to not trying to make a tackle after a turnover, he can protect himself. He just doesn’t seem to want to, not to the extent he should.
The Dolphins have added a tight end.
Miami announced on Wednesday that the club has claimed Jack Stoll off of waivers after Philadelphia cut him this week.
Stoll, 26, appeared in seven games with two starts for the Eagles this year. He was on the field for 49 percent of special teams snaps and 43 percent of offensive snaps in games played. He caught two passes for 10 yards.
In 57 career games with 28 starts, Stoll has 22 receptions for 193 yards.
As a corresponding move, the Dolphins released linebacker David Long Jr. He has appeared in eight games with six starts this season, but has played exclusively special teams over the last two weeks. He’s recorded 39 total tackles with two for loss in 2024.
Long is now subject to waivers.
As they come off their Week 10 bye, the Raiders won’t be switching their starting quarterback.
Head coach Antonio Pierce said in his Wednesday press conference that Minshew will remain the team’s starter for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.
“Listen, when we brought in Gardner, we expected, obviously, the play that we’ve seen in the past. And at some point, you’ve got to give a guy confidence,” Pierce said. “There’s been times, obviously, with turnovers and other things that’s taken place where we made decisions to either put him on the bench or go to another quarterback.
“But this week, I felt like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to move forward. And he has every opportunity to go out there and give us a win.”
Minshew has thrown for 1,501 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions in eight games this season, also losing four fumbles. Minshew was benched for QB Aidan O’Connell, but the second-year QB then suffered a thumb fracture that landed him on injured reserve.
Las Vegas recently picked up Desmond Ridder, who was an option to start. But with a new offensive play-caller in Scott Turner, the Raiders will stick with Minshew.
Pierce said “everybody around him” needs to be a part of giving Minshew that needed confidence.
“It starts with the staff, starts with myself,” Pierce said. “Starts with belief — letting him know, man, go out there and let it go. Let it loose.
“What have we got to lose at this point? Right? [We’re] 2-7. So, everything that’s behind us is behind us. I’m looking forward to everything in front of me.”
