The Miami Dolphins have gotten some great news on edge rusher Jaelan Phillips continually throughout the offseason.
Phillips provided social media updates showing him progressing from walking to running and performing agility drills more recently. The team backed up that progress by removing him from the PUP list last week, allowing him to return to practice.
The updates, however, have been few and far between for the Dolphins' other starting edge rusher, Bradley Chubb. The veteran outside linebacker suffered an ACL tear in garbage time of a Week 17 blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Little has been revealed about his progress or his time frame for a return.
That time frame remained cloudy on Thursday when Mike McDaniel was asked about the timetable for his return.
"It's going much like the ongoing conversation has been about Jaelan Phillips in that, like, no timeline, making sure that he has no setbacks in the whole process, and I can tell you with exuberance because there's been no setbacks. He's progressing, and we will - making sure when he's on the field, he's there to stay.
"So, he's doing a great job understanding his role to the team. Very important player for this team. Might be one of the most, if not the most, popular player on the team. I don't think there's a teammate that he can't reach, and with that connectivity, there's some responsibility that goes there for the organization.
"So, he's being very wise beyond his years in terms of making sure that he doesn't, in a heat of competitiveness, overstep boundaries too soon. So, happy with where he's at."
There was a lot said there, but not much relating to the current status of Chubb other than saying he didn't suffer any setbacks. That's certainly good news but doesn't offer much insight into how his particular recovery goes.
The Dolphins were also reported to have been one of three other teams to have looked into edge Matt Judon, who was traded on Wednesday from the Patriots to the Atlanta Falcons.
That's quite the move for a team to make who should have Phillips back on one side sooner than later while also having first round pick Chop Robinson and a suddenly resurgent Emmanuel Ogbah as quality options as well. That should be sufficient to navigate a short-term absence by Chubb. If Chubb was going to be back early in the season, investing the draft capital and salary in a player like Judon wouldn't make very much sense.
As such, simply reading the room, it seems fair to doubt that Miami fans will see their starting duo of Phillips and Chubb together on the field any time soon.
