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Don’t look now, but the Miami Dolphins are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.
Miami traveled home from Madrid after banking an overtime win over the Washington Commanders in the NFL’s first game in Spain. The Dolphins have now won three of their last four games – punctuated by dominant wins over the Falcons and Bills.
Both sides of the ball are playing better during this stretch, specifically the offense. Miami’s had at least 300 total yards on offense in each of the last four matchups. As a team, the Dolphins are running the ball better over their last four games; they’ve hit at least 140 rushing yards three times after failing to reach that at all through their first seven games.
That improvement on the ground’s made up for the passing game losing weapons to injury. Star wide receiver Tyreek Hill suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4. Tight end Darren Waller got off to a strong start to his Dolphins tenure with four touchdowns in four games before suffered a pectoral injury that put him on injured reserve (IR).
At 4-7, Miami would need a lot of luck to make the playoffs considering the glut of six-win teams ahead of them in the AFC wild-card race. The Dolphins had their bye last week and are back in action this week at home against the 2-9 New Orleans Saints.
To get one step closer to 0.500, they’ll need their offense to produce once again and Waller would be a big help in that. Here’s the latest on his status before today’s kickoff against the Saints.
Is Darren Waller playing today?
The Dolphins have activated Waller from injured reserve and he is going to play in Week 13 against New Orleans, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Waller practiced all week with limited participation on Wednesday and Friday and full participation on Thursday.
He was initially listed as questionable on the Dolphins’ injury report but it appears the veteran tight end is good to go.
Waller hasn’t seen the field since Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns when he exited the game with his pectoral injury. Prior to that, he’d scored three touchdowns on 10 catches from Weeks 4-6. That kind of production shows he’ll likely be a welcome boost to the Dolphins’ offense.
Dolphins TE depth chart
Here’s a look at how the tight end room breaks down with Waller back:
Hill, an undrafted rookie from the 2023 NFL Draft, has been the team’s top receiving tight end with Waller out. He’s tallied 11 catches for 91 yards on 14 targets this season.
Miami signed Dulcich after training camp cuts and he’s made a small impact with one start this season. Rucci was elevated from the practice squad with Waller out and may be moved back down with Waller returning to the field.
