Thursday Dolphins Notebook: Injury Update, Fangio's "Revenge" Game, and More

While Jaylen Waddle and Salvon Ahmed again missed practice Thursday, the three changes on the Miami Dolphins injury report all were positive.

Cornerback Xavien Howard was removed from the list of players entirely after sitting out Wednesday for a rest day, while WR Tyreek Hill (ankle) and LB Andrew Van Ginkel (ankle) went from limited to full participants.

The Dolphins had six players who were limited at practice for a second consecutive day: T Terron Armstead (back/ankle/knee), DB Elijah Campbell (knee), DT Raekwon Davis (wrist), TE Julian Hill (ankle), TE Tyler Kroft (back) and LB Jaelan Phillips (back).

The Denver Broncos' one change on their injury report also was positive, with tackle Garrett Bolles (ankle) going from a limited to a full participant.

But safety Justin Simmons (hip), linebacker Frank Clark (hip), and defensive tackle Mike Purcell (ankle) again didn't practice, putting in doubt their availability for the Dolphins season opener at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

COACHES CONVENTION

The game Sunday will be very unique in one sense, in that it will feature three former Broncos head coaches serving as assistants for one team or the other.

For Denver, Vance Joseph has returned as the team's defensive coordinator after serving as head coach in 2017-18, a position he took after being the Dolphins DC.

Dolphins running backs coach Eric Studesville, meanwhile, was interim head coach for the Broncos for the final four games of the 2010 season after replacing Josh McDaniels and had a 1-3 record.

And, of course, there's current Dolphins DC Vic Fangio, who's back in the NFL after a year away following a three-year stint as Broncos head coach.

Fangio, who had a 19-30 record in his three seasons (2019-21), said he didn't have any special feelings regarding Broncos week.

"Every game we play in this league, one of 16, 17 now, is equally important," Fangio said. "I’m sure when I see some of the people there that are still there that I know, you say hello and you think back a little bit. I enjoyed my time there. There are still about 15 or 16 players that are on the team from when I was there. I wish them nothing but success, except this week. I really don’t look at it much different. If the game maybe had been in Denver, maybe.”

HAT TIP TO THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

It was coordinator day at the Dolphins training facility Thursday, and first up was special teams Danny Crossman, with the very first question dealing with the blocked field goal attempt in the second half.

For those who missed it, New England's Brenden Schooler went in motion from the outside toward the line of scrimmage and timed his rush perfectly to get past Christian Wilkins and smother Jason Sanders' 49-yard attempt.

Crossman said the play was about what New England did, not what the Dolphins didn't do.

“They (New England) did a great job," Crossman said. "I mean that’s good stuff. Obviously, we were on the wrong side of that one. But when you see stuff like that, that’s a great play. It’s perfectly timed, perfectly executed, a big play by them. But then again, they did it again later. It was a great play by them. Give them all the credit in the world. Give the coaches, give the player (credit). It’s super stuff and exciting even though we were on the wrong side of it, but that’s good stuff.”

New England tried the same tactic later when Sanders attempted a 55-yard field goal in the final minutes, but he was able to get off the kick, although it missed wide left.

“Again, it’s a complete timing play," Crossman said. "And if it’s not 100 percent right, it’s not going to work. You could be blocked, you could be offsides. There’s such a large spectrum. And when it works, it’s a fabulous thing.”

FORMER DOLPHINS NEWS

-- Tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, who spent training camp with the Dolphins, signed with the New York Jets practice squad.

-- Great shot of former Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake, now a member of the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, sporting a hoodie that should put a smile on the face of every Miami fan.

Kenyan Drake’s hoodie… 😹

If you know, you know pic.twitter.com/vdVpErBils
— The Ravens Realm (@RealmRavens) September 21, 2023

ON THIS DATE IN DOLPHINS HISTORY

-- Sept. 21, 1986: The highest-scoring game in Dolphins history ends in a 51-45 overtime loss against the New York Jets.

-- Sept. 21, 2008: The Dolphins unveil the Wildcat, Ronnie Brown rushed for four touchdowns and passes for another in a 38-13 blowout victory of the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

-- Sept. 21, 2014: Jeff Cross, Sam Madison, Tony Nathan and Ed Newman are inducted into the Dolphins Walk of Fame.

THE FINAL WORD

WR Tyreek Hill when asked whether the Dolphins track how much he runs on game day with all of the pre-snap motion employed by the offense: “Oh yeah, they do. That’s why sometimes on Wednesday’s, I be having a day off or whatever. I don’t really be injured. I don’t get hurt. The ‘Cheetah’ don’t get hurt.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Check out our daily podcast (All Dolphins Podcast) on YouTube and also available wherever you get your audio podcasts under Miami Dolphins Insider on the Fans First Sports Network. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.