MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins this weekend lost wide receiver River Cracraft for an extended period of time with what Mike McDaniel on Monday deemed an upper-body injury.
Cracraft, who apparently got hurt on his 13-yard touchdown catch Friday night, is expected back at some point this season, but McDaniel wouldn’t promise much more than that.
“It will be some time,” McDaniel said. “No one likes to see injuries in general. I’m top of that list. But I think if there’s anybody equipped to handle adversity, it’s River Cracraft.”
Miami Dolphins Have Concerns at Wide Receiver
Cracraft’s bad luck further complicates an already dicey situation for the Dolphins at wideout.
Jaylen Waddle hasn’t practiced in weeks. Odell Beckham Jr. hasn’t practiced at all. And rookie Tahj Washington is out for the season after getting hurt in OTAs.
This raises the obvious question: Is McDaniel confident that he will have five or six available receivers upon whom he can rely when the Dolphins open the regular season against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 8?
FREE: Subscribe to PFN’s NFL Newsletter
“Yeah, I am,” McDaniel replied. “There has been a little stress on the depth of the room, but there’s also different caveats to that. Are we approaching Jaylen Waddle the same way that we would in season? The answer is no. There’s things of that nature that come up a ton.
“We’ve had a couple lineup changes, I think would be a conservative way to say it. But we’re also getting a very clear picture of some very, very strong battles and giving guys opportunities. That’s the cool thing about football. You get to learn stuff every day. How cool is it from my vantage point some of the opportunities that [Erik] Ezukanma was able to really, really showcase his talent?
“Some of the younger receivers got a lot of involvement, whether they were getting targeted or not, we got to see really who we’re working with and we’ll continue to do that. So I think there’s a silver lining to that. We’re getting a lot of information. And so that’s the positive with that.
“And you really get so many people to evaluate, and this is such a tough roster to make; you do appreciate some clarity with some of those battles when you do have injuries in positions, really.”
Odell Beckham Injury Update
Translating McDaniel, the Dolphins aren’t concerned about Waddle being available for Week 1. But that isn’t necessarily the case with Beckham, who is still rehabbing an unspecified injury that predates his time in Miami.
Beckham has been on the physically unable to perform list all camp, and will likely remain there for at least another week.
“One thing I’ve known that I’ve learned about Odell is he is putting his best foot forward,” McDaniel said. “He’s had some guys on this team that he’s been teammates with on previous teams, whether in college or in the pros. And the way he’s committed, they’ve really reassured me on how this is the best version of a rehab and meeting-room version of Odell. He’s really going after it, but I promise you he didn’t sign up for that.
“So I know there will be progression — there’s been progression every week. But I just know what he signed up for, what we signed up with him, is for development within the offense during the course of the season to be at our best and be at our best when our best is required. So I’m not rushing the process. I’m not worried about it, because I know the intent is right on both sides, and the intention is to not have something holding him back once he gets on the field. You learn how we do something a certain way, you have visual, then you go do it physically.
“And then you can adjust and learn quickly. It really hurts the learning process if you do it and then can’t do it again. So that’s where we’re at with that. I don’t expect to see him this week, but I expect a progression, just because I based it upon all the information that I’ve gotten so far. It’s been a continued progression, but we’re just being very deliberate about it.”
If Beckham is unavailable for the opener, it certainly ups the odds that Ezukanma will be on the Dolphins’ Week 1 roster. Ezuknanma has dealt with his own injury adversity this camp but showed up like he seemingly always does in the preseason game.
Ezukanma led all players in Saturday night’s win over the Washington Commanders with five catches for 65 yards.
Rookie Malik Washington also seems likely to make the 53 now, as well.
More Miami Dolphins Injury News
McDaniel provided updates on several other banged-up Dolphins during his Monday news conference.
- Safety Jordan Poyer is expected to return to practice this week after missing time with a thumb issue.
- Cornerback Cam Smith is “week-to-week” with a hamstring injury that isn’t related to the soft-tissue issue he had earlier in camp.
- Running back Chris Brooks is in the concussion protocol.
- Linebacker David Long Jr. could have returned to Friday’s game after leaving with an unspecified injury.
- Wide receiver Braylon Sanders is “week-to-week.”