Berrios Participates in Practice, but Leaves Early
Berrios, who happened to be the third-most targeted player in the passing game, behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, sat out all of the bye week’s work and Wednesday’s practice because of the hamstring injury he aggravated in preparation for the Kansas City Chiefs game Nov. 5.
He participated in Thursday’s position drills, and an early special teams period, but went inside the bubble accompanied by a trainer 30 minutes into practice.
Whether that was the plan, or if Berrios, a former University of Miami standout, got shut down because of his ailments is unknown at this time.
If Berrios, who has caught 20 passes for 194 yards and scored one touchdown, can’t play against the Raiders the Dolphins likely would have River Cracraft fill in as Miami’s slot receiver, and Jaylen Waddle, Cedrick Wilson Jr., De’Von Achane, Jeff Wilson Jr. and Raheem Mostert are viable options as kickoff return specialists.
According to special teams coach Dan Crossman, there’s a remote possibility that Miami would still use Tyreek Hill and Jevon Holland as punt returners.
“We have the traditional guys that we’ve been repping and working. We feel good about where Braxton is. He had an extra day yesterday, but we feel good about where he is for this weekend,” Crossman said. “Fortunately, we have some other guys that have history, which is the most important thing.”
Chase Claypool, who has been nursing a knee injury for a couple of weeks, sat out his third straight practice.
Tight end Durham Smythe (ankle) and fullback Alec Ingold (foot) participated in Thursday’s practice after sitting out Wednesday’s session. Smythe and Ingold have missed the first practice of the week the past few weeks because of their injuries.
Hunt continues to be rested
Robert Hunt continues to sit out practice , which likely means he will be sidelined for a second week because of the hamstring injury he suffered at the end of October in Miami’s 31-17 win over the New England Patriots.
With Hunt, much like many of Miami’s key starters, head coach Mike McDaniel is thinking of the big picture, which is for the Dolphins to be playing their best football when elimination games arrive in December, especially when Miami is playing for the AFC East division crown, and home field advantage in the playoffs.
For that mission to be accomplished he’ll need a healthy Hunt, and to not have Hunt playing at 70 percent.
“When you get soft tissues with linemen, you just think about blocking someone and it’s really hard to protect yourself when you’re straining in a direction and then he uses his hands to try to disengage and you have to redirect,” McDaniel said. “If you stood up right now and we just got into a blocking drill, even if I’d be easy to block, you’d still be able to tell, ‘Hey, if I had a sore hamstring, this might be bad.’ ”
With Hunt and Robert Jones (knee) missing practice for a second consecutive day, Lester Cotton and Liam Eichenberg appear in line to be the starting guards against the Raiders. The only other options are Chasen Hines, who is on the practice squad, and offensive tackles Kendall Lamm and Kion Smith.
