Breaking Down Chris Bell's First Practice and His Potential Timeline

Chris Bell took another significant step Tuesday, but the promising Miami Dophins rookie draft pick and head coach still aren't interested in rushing the process.

After being activated off the Non-Football Injury list Monday and taking part in practice on a limited basis, Bell was moderately more involved on this day when he did a handful of team reps.

Still wearing the red jersey signifying to teammates a player isn't to be touched, Bell didn't catch a pass in the three team reps we saw him taking, but simply being out there and running routes against a full defense nonetheless constituted another milestone in his comeback from the torn ACL that cut short his 2025 season at Louisville last November.

It felt great," Bell told reporters after practice. "I haven't played football in a little minute, so my first practice, I was a little nervous, but I'm just out there getting my feet wet, getting back to the swing of things."

THE BELL TIMETABLE

We'll get to what Bell had to say about his comeback and return to practice later, but what every Dolphins fan wants to know no doubt is when we can expect Bell to play in a game.

Head coach Jeff Hafley said before practice Tuesday that it wouldn't happen this week against the New York Giants, as we wrote when Bell was activated, but the door isn't closed on the preseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday, August 28.

On the flip side, there's also a chance that it could end up that Bell isn't quite ready for the start of the regular season against the Las Vegas Raiders on September 13, though starting the season on NFI and being automatically out for the first four games no longer is on the table.

"We have to be careful," Hafley said. "I give Kyle Johnston and Todd (Hunt) and everybody involved a lot of credit for getting him back ready. He worked really hard at it, but there's still a lot of steps to go, so let's just see how he progresses. I mean, with any injury, could there be setbacks? Sure. Could it go smoothly? I hope. Step two will be getting involved in some team activities with a red jersey on. I don't foresee him practicing against the Giants or playing against the Giants, but we'll go day to day and see how he progresses.

"But I think everyone's really excited that he's back. He's got to get in football shape. He's got to get in some timing and rhythm with the quarterbacks, but it's good to have him out there."

On those three routes he ran, there was nothing that really stood out for Bell, other than maybe he looked like a player coming off a major injury. Again, speed isn't necessarily Bell's main attribute; rather, it's his size and ability to make plays on the ball that stand out.

It's that combination that made Bell such an intriguing prospect and one who was headed for likely the second round of the draft, if not the first, before his knee injury eventually made him available to the Dolphins at the 94th overall pick.

It bears repeating that Bell probably has the highest ceiling of any wide receiver on the Dolphins roster, and that includes fellow rookie third-round pick Caleb Douglas, who has gotten so much attention from his strong training camp showing and acrobatic catch in the preseason opener.

It then only makes sense, as we wrote before Bell was activated, that the Dolphins are going to want to err on the side of being overly cautious than overly aggressive when it comes to determining when Bell is a full go.

Yes, it would be great if that happened sooner rather than later, but GM Jon-Eric Sullivan said it best around draft time that the decision to take Bell was made with the long term in mind and not strictly 2026.

Rest assured that approach hasn't changed.

There should be some optimism that Bell indeed will be ready for the start of the regular season, but the reality is it will be entirely dependent on how his surgically repaired knee responds and avoiding any setbacks.

And nobody can predict whether that will happen.

BELL'S POST-PRACTICE THOUGHTS

Here are some of the highlights from Bell's media session:

Is the toughest part just feeling confident in the knee again?

Bell: No, I feel very confident. I would say the toughest part is just getting adapted to the NFL, these hot practices and just playing in NFL .

How do you feel physically in terms of running, cutting? All those things. How does it feel?

Bell: I feel pretty good. Like I said, I haven't played football in a little minute. Just getting back out there, to be able to run and cut and things like that, it feels pretty good. The thing that I'm just mostly focused on now is just getting back into football shape.

What did Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley tell you about their planned timeline for your return? And what did they tell you about just being patient in this recovery process?

Bell: Yeah, there's really no timeline. Every time they come up to me, they just say be honest with how you feel, let me know if you feel a little off today or you feel good this day. We don't really want to put a timeline on it. We just want to keep getting better each and every day and see how it is from there.

Is that tough to I mean, as a competitor and football player, of course you want to be back on the field. But is it tough to admit those days where it's like, hey, this is I got to take it easy here?

Bell: Yeah, but at the same time, no, because I would say you're going to have days like that. After coming off an injury, it's all about how it's a mental game at this point. When you're coming back from an injury, I got to think that my knee is good now. I just got to learn how to push through a little soreness and things like that, so I wouldn't say it's tough.

Over the last eight or nine months or so of rehab, is there something you learned about yourself, whether it's professional or personal, over that process?

Bell: I would say I learned that I'm very impatient, kind of; I would say that because as a player like me just wanting to get back on the field and just wanting to show the people who I am and what I got, after coming back from an injury like this, you got to be patient. You can't rush it. So I learned how to be patient. At first I was like, ‘I need to be doing this. I need to be doing that.’ But now it's a time thing. I'm taking my time.

I couldn't help but notice, but Malik Willis takes your reps. You always take reps with Malik on the individual stuff. How's your connection been with him? Have you noticed that, that he always wants to spin when it’s your rep?

Bell: I feel like our connection is coming along. I just got back out there, so I can't say we got a connection yet on the field, but it takes time. We just got to get on the right page and things like that. Off the field, he always checking on me. Like when I sit beside him in the meeting room or in the team meeting room, ‘You good? How your knee feeling,’ and things like that. So I can say he's a pretty good leader and a pretty good quarterback.

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