Darren Waller’s comeback may be over before it began.
Waller came out of retirement this offseason to play with the Dolphins, however, coach Mike McDaniel had an ominous update Wednesday on the former Giant as he deals with a hip strain.
“I expect to not know what to expect until later on this week,” McDaniel told reporters on Wednesday. “We may get to a point where we realize the risk is too great for the rest of the season and we’ll have to do what’s best for the team.”
Waller, 32, was ruled out with the injury late last week in a surprising move after a seemingly healthy offseason.
News that this injury risk might be too great for Waller to play is a bit shocking, although Waller retired while a member of the Giants after being hospitalized in November 2023.
It is still unclear what caused that medical incident, although he said in his retirement video that he was so debilitated that he couldn’t feed himself or stand.
The Dolphins traded starting tight end Jonnu Smith, along with cornerback Jalen Ramsey, to the Steelers earlier in the offseason for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Smith, who had a career-high 884 receiving yards last season, corralled five catches for 15 yards and a touchdown on Sunday against the Jets. Meanwhile, the Dolphins were destroyed by the Colts, 33-8.
In Waller’s stead is third-year tight end Tanner Conner, who had two catches for 20 yards on Sunday and previously had just three catches for 16 yards in his career.
Miami is all sorts of discombobulated to start this season, as Tyreek Hill is also under investigation by the NFL for another domestic violence accusation, this time by his ex-wife, whom he was married to for 17 months.