Odell Beckham Jr. Injury Update: When Will Miami Dolphins WR Practice?

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Odell Beckham Jr. still hasn’t been on the field for a single snap of practice since signing with the Miami Dolphins three months back. But there’s no reason for panic at this point that the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver won’t be ready for Week 1.

Just the opposite, actually.

Beckham remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list to rehab an undisclosed injury that predates his time with Miami. But given the ramped-up intensity of his rehab, things certainly are trending in the right direction.

Will the Miami Dolphins Have Odell Beckham Jr. in Week 1?

Reporters have spotted Beckham running hard off to the side during training camp practice the last two days. On Friday, he ran full-speed 40-yard sprints, catching passes at the end of each rep.

That’s certainly welcome news for a Dolphins offense that had trouble creating separation Saturday with Tyreek Hill out of practice and Jaylen Waddle not doing much.

Beckham has 43 days until Miami’s regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and while Dolphins coaches would surely prefer him getting on-field work with Tua Tagovailoa before that week, they’re not stressing it (at least publicly).

“I think it’s a little easier sometimes when you have veterans with that much experience,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “You can kind of have an understanding through watching the tape of them previously kind of knowing what he brings, where he’s at.

“Whenever we get him in and can start practicing, really what you do is you build the timing in the offense and the passing game, getting used to how he’s seeing things with the quarterbacks, that connectivity.

“But no, I think overall we understand what he brings to us and we’re excited whenever we can get him to the field.”

While they haven’t gotten to work together on a Dolphins practice field, Tagovailoa told reporters that he’s “been able to talk with ‘O’ a lot off the field.”

“The main focus for me and I think for O is we communicate about, ‘OK, how you got to study the playbook, how I study it, how it helped me,’ and whatnot,” Tagovailoa said.

“The most important thing is he has to take care of himself. He has to do all the things necessary with [the Dolphins’ medical staff] … to do everything he can to get back on the field to help us. From there, we can start getting into, all right, the feel of how these plays are, the feel of space within this offense, all of that.”

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As for Tagvovailoa’s impressions of Beckham in the three months in which they’ve been teammates?

“I sort of have this thing in my head where, ‘Is he a dude or is he one of those I’m-to-myself, I’m-just-here-because-it’s-Miami. Whoop-de-do.’ No?'” Tua said.

“He’s a genuinely great dude. I hang out with him a good amount off the field, as good as they come in my opinion. With that being said, I would say before you start saying things about people, make sure you get to know them.”