Dolphins Putting Williams on IR

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Preston Williams' touchdown catch against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday will become his last play for at least three weeks.

Head coach Brian Flores revealed Wednesday morning that Williams would be going on injured reserve with a foot injury he sustained on the play.

Williams scored on a 9-yard reception from rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the second quarter of the Dolphins' 34-31 victory at State Farm Stadium.

“It’s a big loss," Flores said. "Preston has made a lot of plays for us in the first half of the season. But we’ve got guys who will step in."

It's unclear exactly how and when Williams was injured.

After catching the pass at the 5-yard line, Williams jumped into the end zone over two Arizona defense, but safety Jalen Thompson grabbed his ankle near the goal line as Williams landed. Williams didn't seem to be favoring the leg as he began running in the end zone in celebration, where he was joined by a group of teammates.

One of those teammates was defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who jumped on top of Williams.

Besides the amazing TD throw from Tua Tagovailoa to Preston Williams, it looks like Williams hurt his foot celebrating🤦🏽‍♂️ #cmonman pic.twitter.com/KX7IlzRJrV
— Tommy Mo🚫 (@2on1Tommy) November 8, 2020

With Williams missing the second half against Arizona, returner Jakeem Grant got more snaps at wide receiver. He ended up playing 29 snaps, which represented his highest total since he played 33 snaps in the season opener at New England.

Grant had four catches for 35 yards, including a 9-yard reception on the play before Jason Sanders kicked a 50-yard field goal with 3:30 remaining in regulation that proved the winning margin.

Special teams standout Mack Hollins also stepped up in Williams' absence. He played 17 offensive snaps after playing 24 in the first seven games combined, and his first reception since joining the Dolphins last December was good for an 11-yard touchdown that tied the score 31-31.

The other wide receivers on the active roster are rookies Lynn Bowden Jr. and Malcolm Perry.

Kirk Merritt was elevated from the practice squad for the game against Arizona and played one snap on offense and seven on special teams. The Dolphins practice squad also includes 2018 Cleveland Browns fourth-round pick Antonio Callaway, who began practicing last week after the NFL lifted his suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

Flores suggested a receiver-by-committee approach might be coming to make up for the loss of Williams.

"We’ll try to split the reps in some form or fashion," Flores said. "I think some of the guys have already been up and practiced in some of those roles, Jakeem, Mack Hollins, Malcolm Perry has been there in a little bit. We’ll mix those with those other young guys. There’s a few different ways we can do this. You don’t have to only just put one grouping in there.

"We’ve got some tight ends who can play. We’ve got some backs who can play. We can only play 11 at a time, so it doesn’t have to be three and four wide receivers. I think everyone expects it to show up that way, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. I think we can handle that with the rest of the team. Again, it’s a team game. We need the tight ends, the backs, the receivers.

"It’s a different year. It’s the year of COVID. We’ve had some other teams who have been down multiple people at positions and you don’t not play; you adjust. So we’ll adjust if we need to.”

Williams started seven of the first eight games for the Dolphins this season and leads the team in touchdown receptions with four.

He tied his season high against Arizona with four catches (good for 60 yards) in a nice bounce-back effort against he dropped two passes in a 28-17 victory against the Rams in Week 8.

Williams has 18 catches for 288 yards (16.0) average on the season after having 32 receptions for 428 yards (13.4) and three touchdowns as a rookie free agent in 2019 before his season was cut by a knee injury in a victory against the New York Jets — ironically, also in Week 9.

Williams will become the third Dolphins offensive starter to go on injured reserve over a five-week span. Rookie tackle Austin Jackson was placed on IR after Week 4 and returned to the lineup against Arizona; running back Myles Gaskin was placed on IR last week with a knee injury and will have to miss at least two more games.

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