Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses injuries to Hill, Howard and gives Tua Tagovailoa update

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Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Friday that he’s hopeful that star receiver Tyreek Hill will play Sunday against the Jets despite a quad injury sustained in practice this week.

“We are treating it. And we are hopeful he will play,” McDaniel said.

Hill was spotted at Friday’s practice but he wasn’t running patterns or catching passes, unlike the other receivers.

Meanwhile, cornerback Xavien Howard didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday because of a groin injury. He was spotted at practice on Friday, but his level of involvement wasn’t clear during the media viewing period.

McDaniel was asked if Howard is in serious jeopardy of missing the 1 p.m. Jets game or whether this is a case of keeping the player out of practice to have him ready for Sunday, as the Dolphins seemingly have done the past three weeks with left tackle Terron Armstead and his toe injury.

McDaniel didn’t answer directly for competitive reasons but offered this insight:

“Generally, when players don’t practice we don’t play him. Absolutes are not my cup of tea. With guys like Armstead and X — guys who have played high-caliber level... — there are exceptions. If X is able to go on Sunday, I won’t treat it like my general philosophy.”

In other words, even if Howard doesn’t practice at all this week, McDaniel isn’t opposed to playing him Sunday.

Howard left the Dolphins’ most recent game, against the Bengals, in the third quarter because of a groin injury. His agent, David Canter, said last week that he has “two severely hurt groin muscles.”

Cornerback Keion Crossen (shoulder/glute) also hasn’t practiced this week. “We’ll be careful [with him],” McDaniel said. Crossen was spotted during Friday’s practice.

With Byron Jones still on the physically unable to perform list, the Dolphins have only four healthy cornerbacks: Nik Needham, Kader Kohou, Noah Igbinoghene and Elijah Campbell.

As for other injuries, receiver Jaylen Waddle has been limited with a groin injury. “I’m hoping for the best with Jaylen Waddle,” he said.

Tight end Hunter Long (ankle) is back and available, but Cethan Carter remains in concussion protocol for a fourth week in a row. Armstead hasn’t missed a game because of his toe injury but hasn’t practiced in three weeks. Guard Robert Jones (back) missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

McDaniel said Tua Tagovailoa — previously ruled out for Sunday’s Jets game — will not be with the team in New York. McDaniel also said the team will not place him on injured reserve in the next two days, meaning the Dolphins are not going to automatically rule him out for the next four games.

But that doesn’t assure that he will be back within four games. When he will return remains uncertain, as he works his way through concussion protocol, which has five phases/steps. NFL teams never reveal which of the five stages a player is in.

“Tua has been diligently going through the process,” McDaniel said. “He’s still in the protocol. There are several outside specialists we are utilizing. We’ll take it from there. Happy to get to see him every day. It’s nice when I walk in the hallway and hear, ‘What up, beast?’ For whatever reason, he calls me beast.”

McDaniel addressed other issues during his Friday press briefing:

Asked to assess his work through four games: “I would refuse to ever give myself a high grade, because my assessment of my job is to always get better. Will I ever be pumped about the job I’m doing? No. That’s not the nature of the job... It’s going to be the same at 3-1 as it was 0-4 or 4-0. Bad person to ask.”

On veteran offensive tackle Brandon Shell, who has been on the practice squad for two weeks: “He had a good week of practice. Very impressed with his commitment to own the scheme. He’s shown his professionalism. He has improved on stuff every day, which is my base bottom line for all players. I’m very happy we have him here.”