O’Leary released; TE responsible for interception

Nick O’Leary’s two-year run with his hometown team has concluded.

The Miami Dolphins waived O’Leary, the team’s most experienced tight end on Tuesday, a day after a pass he failed to pull in produced Miami’s first turnover in Monday night’s 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The former Dwyer High and Florida State Seminole standout joined the Dolphins in 2018 and was one of the few carryovers from former coach Adam Gase’s squad to coach Brian Flores’ team.

O’Leary, who played both tight end and fullback, started two of the seven games he played this season and caught four passes for 37 yards.

Against the Steelers, O’Leary had a pass bounce off of his chest late in the second quarter and into the air that was caught by former Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who Miami traded to Pittsburgh earlier this season.

Monday night, wasn’t the only major mistake he made during a game this season. O’Leary was also responsible for a missed block that got quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick blown up by Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips last week.

O’Leary’s release leaves Durham Smythe and Mike Gesicki as the only tight ends on the 53-man roster. But the Dolphins also have fullback Chandler Cox available to fill the H-back role.

Cornerback Xavier Crawford takes O’Leary’s place on Miami’s roster.

Crawford, a 2019 sixth-round pick, was waived by the Houston Texans this past weekend.

Coincidentally, the Texans waived Crawford to make room for cornerback Cornell Armstrong on their game day roster. Armstrong was the Dolphins’ 2018 sixth-round pick, but didn’t make the final 53-man regular-season roster at the conclusion of this past preseason.

Crawford appeared in two games for the Texans with most of his work coming on special teams. He played 34 special teams snaps and three on defense and made two special teams tackles.

Crawford started 27 games during his collegiate career, which began at Oregon State and ended at Central Michigan, where he played his final season, contributing 24 tackles and one of his two college interceptions.

The Dolphins will immediately need Crawford since Xavien Howard was placed on injured reserve Tuesday because of the knee issue he’s been dealing with for the past month, and Ken Webster left Monday’s loss in a walking boot after spraining his left ankle.