Miami Dolphins TE Darren Waller still not practicing.
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Miami Dolphins TE Darren Waller still not practicing.
The Miami Dolphins needed another tight end following the trade of Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, they made another trade to acquire retired tight end Darren Waller from the New York Giants.
However, since that trade, Waller hasn’t practiced fully with the team. We keep hearing about “ramping up” and getting into game shape, but so far we’ve seen nothing. So, what’s the plan with Waller?
“We’re being very intentional with how we practice with Darren to do right by the Dolphins and do right by him,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “We have not pressed the threshold of three days consecutive intentionally. And tomorrow’s practice is third down, followed by the red zone emphasis. So it was intentional for him. You won’t see him today, but that’s not because of a setback.”
Well, the Dolphins have to release an official injury report on Wednesday so we’ll see what they say.
Is Darren Waller even good enough to help?
With all the speculation about Waller’s health, it’s getting overlooked that he might not be that good. Don’t forget, this guy was retired not long ago and hasn’t been a dominant presence on a football field since 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders. Even if Waller is 100% (he’s not), there is no telling that he’ll be more than a functional tight end.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the NFL a long time, and as a result, found there’s been multiple different ways for players at different positions to impact the game,” McDaniel said. “And the intentionality of bringing Darren here was real, but we’re also working through the process of playing good football, not depending on Darren.
“So what does that mean? That means, just like the situation with Tyreek Hill (dealing with an oblique injury), where him not being on the field allows for other evaluation and growth of the team, although it doesn’t, you don’t perceive it immediately as ideal. There’s good residuals, and Darren is the exact same way, I think, in that there’s stuff that we’re working on that we feel very comfortable with, and while he adds a significant value to our team, I think our team feels very strong as we’ve practiced without him.”
This kind of sounds like Indianapolis Colts coaches talking about Anthony Richardson, except without all the manufactured hope and promise.
“So, he’s a residual gain, I think, to coaches and players,” McDaniel continued. “So as we work through that and his assimilation back into professional football from the sofa, he’s done a great job protecting what we need him to protect, which is work, challenge himself to not put himself in harm’s way with overcooking. Fast guys love to show how fast they are and you’re trying to have a long season vision, and he’s very locked into the game plan.”
Darren Waller wasn’t retired for that long
Listening to McDaniel, you’d think that Waller answered the phone call from the Dolphins in an underground bunker where he’s lived for the past seven years. He officially announced his retirement in June of last year, so let’s not get crazy.
Yes, he’s been out of football for a year, but I’m pretty sure that he still knows how to put his helmet on forward. The cryptic nature of his status makes folks raise their eyebrows and wonder what’s really going on.
In his last year in the NFL in 2023, Waller caught 52 passes for 552 yards and one touchdown. Those are fine numbers for a tight end on a poor team, but extrapolate that data and factor in that he’s missed a season and there isn’t much reason to think that he’s going to change the Dolphins’ offense.