Dolphins won’t say Gesicki is out Sunday, but the signs all hint he won’t play
No one has officially ruled Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki out for Sunday’s must-win game against the New England Patriots.
But you don’t need Lasik to read the tea leaves.
Three days after sustaining an ugly shoulder injury, Gesicki was not at practice. And his teammates later spoke as if they will have to beat New England without him.
“I think it’s hard to replace a guy like Mike,” Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Wednesday. “It’s also hard to replace any of these guys — DeVante [ Parker], Jakeem [ Grant]. But it’s next man up, and the guys that are ready to play, they’re hungry to play.
“This is just an opportunity for them, as well. This is a great time for me as a quarterback to show my leadership to these guys, these new guys, and then also work my timing with them.”
Unlike Gesicki, however, there seems to be a realistic chance for at least one of the Dolphins’ injured receivers to play. Parker and Grant practiced on a limited basis Wednesday despite injuring their respective hamstrings Sunday. Grant worked with a wrap on his entire right leg.
But Gesicki was nowhere to be seen — at least during the portion open to the media.
“He’s in high spirits,” said Durham Smythe, Gesicki’s friend and positionmate. “… Mike’s a guy who’s always high energy, high spirits. Nothing’s really changed, so you love to see that.”
Later in his news conference, Smythe joked that the organization made “a mistake” in 2018 by drafting Gesicki ahead of him (Smythe went 123rd, two rounds after Gesicki).
But Smythe knows the truth: Gesicki is a rare talent, and one who was hitting his stride in 2020. With three games left in the season, Gesicki had already set career highs in receiving yards (602) and touchdowns (6).
His athleticism has produced some of the sweetest one-handed catches of the season — not just by Dolphins players, but by all players.
Smythe is a solid player.
But he’s not that.
“I try to be a guy who’s reliable in the pass game,” said Smythe, who has more catches (16), yards (139) and touchdowns (two) this year than he had in his first two seasons combined. “Obviously, not being a 4.4, 4.5 guy like Mike and some other guys, you won’t end up with 60, 70 catches in a year. But when the ball comes your way, you try to be reliable.”
Smythe added he wants to be “a safety blanket-type guy.”
Tagovailoa, who is dealing with a minor ankle injury but practiced fully Wednesday, will need that, considering Gesicki had become his No. 1 receiver. During the past two games, Tagovailoa had targeted Gesicki 17 times and the two had connected on three touchdown passes.
Expect an even larger role for Parker, if indeed he is able to play Sunday, which is the hope internally.
MORE DOLPHINS INJURIES
The ankle injury that knocked safety Bobby McCain out of the Chiefs game also kept him out of Wednesday’s practice. He and Gesicki were the only
Dolphins on the active roster who did not participate at all Wednesday.
Running back Myles Gaskin remains on the COVID-19 list and will likely miss Sunday’s game.
But the Dolphins’ tailback situation is better this week than it was last, when they started fourth-stringer DeAndre Washington.
Matt Breida returned to practice after missing the
past two games due to COVID-19 and Salvon Ahmed (shoulder) practiced for just the fourth time in the last four weeks. Ahmed, who was in a noncontact jersey, was limited in his participation.
More good news: Linebackers Kyle Van Noy
(hip) and Elandon Roberts (chest) and guard Ereck Flowers (ankle) all practiced in a limited capacity
after sitting out the Chiefs game.
Six more Dolphins appeared on the team’s Wednesday injury report as full participants: Tagovailoa (ankle), safety Kavon Frazier (shoulder), cornerback Xavien Howard (shoulder), tackle Austin Jackson (knee), guard Solomon Kindley (foot) and defensive end Shaw Lawson (shoulder).