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Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (knee) is dealing with a knee issue after a defender fell on his lower leg during a tackle in Week 15. He was pulled from the game and wasn't able to return after taking just 38% of the team's offensive snaps and failing to catch both of his targets.
We're now heading into Week 16, and the Dolphins have a losing record. It's always possible that teams could opt to shut down their players in case of injury to keep them healthy for the next season. A lifetime of injuries from football catches up to many players sooner rather than later.
So will Waddle not be able to play again this year?
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Is Jaylen Waddle Out For The Season?
No, it doesn't look like he is. While the injury looked pretty nasty in real time, reports indicated that he avoided major injury -- in fact, he's now considered day-to-day.
Jaylen Waddle knee injury is 'not major,' won't require surgery https://t.co/obeyEMvvtP pic.twitter.com/Ich7ZaFjlr
— The Dolphins Wire (@thedolphinswire) December 18, 2024
You can see the injury below. The mechanism is very important here. Depending on the way the knee bends, certain ligaments can be stressed more than they would normally. It seems that one of his ligaments was overextended enough to cause a sprain or strain, but not a tear.
Jaylen Waddle - Video suggests MCL sprain.
ACL/meniscus at risk but sprain would be best case scenario
Lean towards missing rest of today#Dolphins
— Deepak Chona, MD. SportsMedAnalytics (@SportMDAnalysis) December 15, 2024
There's not an explicit timetable for a return from this injury, because it matters just how much the ligament was stressed. So his status for Week 16 isn't certain yet. Fantasy managers will have to wait for practice reports to get a better idea. If he doesn't practice at all this week, he probably won't play.
Limited practices could be in line for him, though, and his status could come down to the wire. Miami is on the verge of missing the playoffs, but have three winnable games against the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets coming up. So it's unlikely they shut him down for the rest of 2024.
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