Status Updates on Miami Dolphins stars Jaylen Waddle, Xavien Howard
There was some very encouraging news involving wide receiver Jaylen Waddle for the Miami Dolphins on Thursday.
Head coach Mike McDaniel made pretty clear that he fully expects the second-year player to be ready for the season opener against the New England Patriots, and then Waddle was spotted catching a pass at practice — which was more than the media has seen in the past couple of weeks.
McDaniel was asked during his pre-practice media session what his level of confidence was regarding Waddle being ready for Week 1.
“Very, very, very confident,” McDaniel said. “I’m not sure what my scale is. Again, the whole time, been trying to be extremely proactive. If we would have had a game last Sunday, he would have played. If we would have had a game the Sunday before, he probably would have played. He’s getting some reps in practice today. And again, that was a combination of just being proactive and cautious, as well as something that was an easy decision for me, because, like I said before, he was one of the most impressive players on the entire team, regardless of position, coming back from the break and from the beginning of training camp. So I felt very good about where his game was at, and that the best thing that could serve him was rest. Extremely proactive, getting reps today, and very confident for not this Sunday but the following.”
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Waddle did not dress for any of the preseason games and often was spotted throughout training camp wearing a full-length sleeve on his right leg, which he did again Thursday.
OTHER PRACTICE REPORT ITEMS
Cornerback Nik Needham, running back Chase Edmonds, fullback Alec Ingold, safety Clayton Fejedelem and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel were among the Dolphins who appeared limited or were not spotted during the portion open to the media.
Cornerback Xavien Howard was given a veteran day off and left practice shortly after warmups.
