Thumb injury limiting Tyreek Hill at Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers joint practice.
The Miami Dolphins took a trip north to conduct joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday ahead of the team’s final preseason contest against Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill is in attendance, but participating sparingly due to a thumb injury he suffered sometime within the last week. As a result, he will not be taking part in team drills against the Buccaneers today, and will most certainly miss Friday’s game.
Head coach Mike McDaniel spoke with the media ahead of Wednesday’s practice and had this to say about the severity of Hill’s thumb injury.
“Tyreek could practice today. However, there’s also times that, because of the timing of where their bodies are at, kind of puts them at risk to get further injury. From a medical standpoint, you’re just trying to let something cool down so you don’t have something happen at the expense of regular season games. So, he’s been very active, but we’re trying to make sure ... we keep him out of harm’s way.”
Tyreek Hill joins a long line of injured players for the Dolphins — especially in the wide receivers room. Fellow starters Jaylen Waddle and Odell Beckham Jr. have been sidelined for awhile with various ailments. Beckham has yet to practice with quarterback Tua Tagvoiloa. Jaylen Waddle did dress for practice against Tampa Bay, however.
Key role player River Cracraft suffered a serious injury against the Washington Commanders during Miami’s second preseason game and, as a result, will miss “significant time,” likely stretching deep into the regular season.
The Dolphins have been bit by the injury bug each of the last two seasons — derailing fans’ hopes that the team could finally buck their playoff losing streak — a steak that dates back to December 30th, 2000 when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 23-17.
Miami will need to get healthy if they want to avoid similar disappointment in 2024.
