It looks like tight end Darren Waller’s comeback will not happen in Week 1.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters in his Friday press conference that Waller suffered a setback in his recovery from a hip strain and is now unlikely to play against the Colts on Sunday.
“It means he’s being challenged,” McDaniel said. “The most eager player to play has another challenge, so I know he’s up for it, but I don’t think he’s going to play this week.”
Waller hadn’t been practicing during training camp after joining the Dolphins in early July. But McDaniel said this hip injury occurred before practice on Wednesday.
“We had already planned not to practice him anyway — something that we didn’t know what it was until what it was,” McDaniel said. “But we were planning for setback prevention. And he had a setback.”
McDaniel noted the difficulty of bringing a player back from retirement.
“I think he’s just really eager to play with his teammates,” McDaniel said. “But I think you have to look at it big picture and I think you fail in life if you et up a script proactively. It’s not about us having a pre-planned expectation of X, Y, or Z. It’s how you react to it. So I say it’s a challenge, but this is a guy who’s made of challenges.”
Miami’s full injury report with game statuses will be released later on Friday.
