MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright was back at the team’s Thursday practice, going through drills for the first time in the three weeks since his knee injury.
The development possibly puts Wright in play ahead of their home opener against the New England Patriots on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Wright was seen, during a brief media viewing portion of practice, participating in team stretch and then going through cutting drills with a football in his arm. He was wearing a compression sleeve on his right leg.
Wright left the Aug. 21 joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars early when he initially sustained the injury that saw him limp slowly inside team facilities for evaluation.
Coach Mike McDaniel previously said Wright had a minor procedure done on the knee during his time away from the practice field. But Wright was always viewed as possibly returning within the first month of the season as he wasn’t placed on injured reserve, which would require a four-game absence.
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In Sunday’s season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, the Dolphins’ backfield was led by third-year speedster De’Von Achane. He had seven carries while rookie power rusher Ollie Gordon II only had two rushing attempts as the run game was taken out of the equation by early turnovers and a mounting deficit in Indianapolis.
Veteran running back Jeff Wilson Jr. was called up from the practice squad to be the third running back in Week 1.
Players not seen practicing Thursday, after also missing Wednesday drills were: right tackle Austin Jackson (toe), tight end Darren Waller (hip), nose tackle Benito Jones (oblique) and cornerbacks Storm Duck (ankle) and Ethan Bonner (hamstring). Waller and Bonner were working out on the side.
Defensive personnel
If Jones, who started at nose tackle Sunday in Indianapolis, can’t play against the Patriots, rookie Zeek Biggers would be the next man up at his position, according to defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver on Thursday. Biggers was a healthy inactive against the Cotls.
One interesting note defensively is that reserve linebacker Willie Gay Jr. did not register a defensive snap, something Weaver regretted.
“I got to find a way to get Willie on the field,” Weaver said. “There was a plan, certainly, to get him in the game. Plans change. We were in some chaos there for a little bit. But I need to get him in. He’s impactful.”
The leader of the Miami defense said having all four edge rushers — Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson and Matthew Judon — between 45 to 55 percent of defensive snaps is where he wants them to be in a healthy rotation. Chubb and Phillips started Sunday in Indianapolis.
Weaver said rookie safety Dante Trader Jr. played well in his 22 defensive snaps and should continue seeing playing time.
Weaver diagnosed the breakdown in coverage for the passing touchdown to Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in the opener. He said Duck did what he was supposed to do and rerouted Pittman, but safety Ifeatu Melifonwu didn’t identify two vertical routes on his side as the secondary was running a Tampa-2 coverage where he was responsible for his deep half of the field.
Special teams talk
Dolphins special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman touched on the running-into-the-kicker penalty on outside linebacker Matthew Judon against the Colts punter last week.
He said it was unfortunate because Judon got side-swiped to have his legs taken from underneath him and didn’t even feel there was contact between Judon and the punter as Indianapolis’ Rigoberto Sanchez landed on his plant foot and jumped over Judon.
“We all watched it. We all talked about it,” Aukerman said, “but that’s not going to stop us from being aggressive and going after punters. We want to be aggressive — just not reckless — on everything that we do.”
Judon, a four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher, had only played one special teams snap over the previous two seasons. He was in on two special teams plays last Sunday.
Wide receiver and return specialist Dee Eskridge was back on kick returns with Malik Washington on Sunday and had an impressive 38-yard return.
“He’s got unbelievable speed when he gets his hands on the ball,” Aukerman said. “The other thing is his vision. He’s got really good vision. He understands what we’re trying to accomplish on our kickoff return and does a great job of cutting.”
Aukerman is preparing for Patriots special teams ace Brenden Schooler, who blocked a field goal and a punt in the last two years against Miami. Dolphins long snapper Joe Cardona, a longtime Patriot, called him possibly the best special teams player in the NFL.
“I think we’ve just understood the importance of trying to block 41 wherever he’s at,” Aukerman said.
This story will be updated.
