WR Williams will miss at least 3 weeks because of injury to foot
Miami Dolphins receiver
Preston Williams will miss an extended period of time with a foot injury that is more serious than the team expected.
Williams will be placed on injured reserve and miss at least three weeks, but his absence could extend beyond that. Head coach Brian Flores declined to say if he’s out for the season.
“It’s tough losing someone like Preston, who’s kind of been a gamechanger for us while he’s been in there,” said Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who targeted Williams 10 times in the his two starts. “He’s been targeted a lot more, I feel like, this year in our offense.”
Williams’ injury — sustained during a touchdown reception on Sunday — is “more significant than what we initially thought,” Flores said.
As Williams rolled into the end zone on Sunday, Arizona Cardinals safety
Jalen Thompson grasped Williams’ left leg. Williams appeared to injure himself on that play.
Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins jumped on Williams in the celebration of the touchdown, and Williams then limped off. But Flores said he did not believe that contributed to the injury.
“It’s a big loss,” Flores said. “Preston has made a lot of plays for us in the first half of the season. We’ve got guys who will step in — Jakeem Grant, Mack Hollins. Kirk Merritt was up last week” from the practice squad.
Flores also mentioned
Lynn Bowden Jr., who’s on the COVID-19 list.
And DeVante Parker, obviously, will remain the Dolphins’ lead receiver.
What about former Cleveland Browns receiver
Antonio Callaway, who’s on the practice squad and last week came off a sevengame NFL suspension?
“He practiced for the first time last week; he had two days of practice,” Flores said, declining to say how far away he is from helping.
Flores said the team also might opt to use more players at other positions instead of having receivers fill all of Williams’ snaps.
“There are a few different ways we can do this,” he said. “We have tight ends and backs who can play. It doesn’t have to be three or four wide receivers. We’ll adjust if we need to.”
Hollins caught a touchdown pass after Williams’ injury last Sunday and his playing time figures to increase significantly.
Williams has 18 catches for 288 yards and four touchdowns this season in eight games, including seven starts. This marks the second consecutive season that Williams sustained a major injury in Miami’s eighth game. Last season, a knee injury in Game 8 ended his season.
The move of Williams to IR leaves Miami with three open spots on its 53-man roster.
COVID-19 UPDATE
Because the Dolphins are in “intense” COVID-19 protocol, the team held meetings virtually — instead of in person — on Wednesday and scheduled a walkthrough instead of a full practice.
Five Dolphins assistant coaches missed Sunday’s game because they were in COVID-19 protocol — at least one of them has contracted the virus — and Flores said at least some of those coaches would be out Wednesday.
And if the Dolphins had practiced Wednesday, three players would have been limited: running back Matt Breida (hamstring), cornerback Jamal Perry (foot) and tight end Durham Smythe (concussion protocol).
●Flores said he likes how quarterback Tagovailoa is like “a sponge” and is constantly seeking information from different perspectives.
“The way he asks questions, wants to learn, all of that gives you an opportunity for success on the field,” Flores said. “I think he looks good. Physically he looks good. He’s doing a good job of leading our offense.”
●For some perspective on the difficulty of Tagovailoa’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Hollins against Arizona, consider this: Per Next Gen Stats, that 11-yard TD had a completion probability of 16.4
percent, making it the most improbable completion by a Dolphins quarterback over the past three seasons.
It had an air distance of 28.5 yards, receiver separation from the cornerback of just 0.4 yards and was just 1.4 yards from the sideline.
●Flores reiterated that three offensive line jobs remain open on a week-toweek basis. Ted Karras is set at center, and Ereck Flowers will be the left guard.
But Austin Jackson,
Rob Hunt, Jesse Davis and Solomon Kindley are competing at the other positions. Kindley got the short end of the stick last Sunday, playing just 15 snaps.
“It’s always an open competition,” Flores said. “We’ve got a number of guys we feel very good about. There are a few different combinations we can go with. Jesse Davis
has played multiple positions and played at a good level. We’re working in Hunt, Jackson, Kindley. We’ll see how practice goes this week.”
●Per Pro Football Focus’
Ryan Smith, Dolphins defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah ranks sixth with 34 quarterback pressures and second with three batted passes. And his seven sacks are fourth in the league. Meanwhile, linebacker
Shaq Lawson ranks third with 10 quarterback hits.
●When opposing offenses have gone empty against the Dolphins (meaning no running back or tight end in the backfield), Miami has blitzed 41 percent of the time, third-highest by any NFL defense since 2016, per Next Gen Stats. And the results generally have been successful.
DOLPHINS FEATS
Among the feats Miami has accomplished in recent weeks:
●The Dolphins have now won four games in a row for the first time since 2016.
●Miami’s 5-3 record is its best start through the first eight games of a season since 2014.
●The Dolphins have won five of their past six and 10 of their past 17 games dating to last season.
Miami has scored 21-plus points in seven consecutive games, the team’s longest such streak since doing it eight straight times in the final two games of 2001 combined with the first six games of 2002. It’s the longest single-season streak since a seven-game streak in 1985.
Also, the Dolphins have scored at least 21 points in the first half of four games in a row. They’ve done that only once before, in 1977. Miami’s 18.3 scoring average in the first half leads the NFL.
●The Dolphins’ fourgame win streak is tied for the second-longest active mark (along with Kansas City and New Orleans) in the NFL behind only the eight-game streak of Pittsburgh.
●The Dolphins have outscored their opponents by 61 points this season, the fifth-best point differential in the NFL.
●Jason Sanders, who set a team record with his 20th consecutive successful field-goal attempt, is the most accurate field goal kicker in Dolphins history, converting 86.6 percent (58 of 67) of his career opportunities.
His 17 field goals this season are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL and are more than any other kicker without a miss. Mason Crosby has the second-most makes without a miss at 11.
The Dolphins now have a takeaway in 15 consecutive games, which is the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind Baltimore (21 games).