Dolphins Wednesday Notebook: More COVID-19, Lindsay's Strange Saints Experience, Flores Respect, More

Head Coach Brian Flores is getting some recognition for the major Miami Dolphins turnaroud

Players are winding up on the Reserve/COVID-19 throughout the NFL, and the Miami Dolphins added a couple of names Wednesday.

Fresh off playing a career-high 10 offensive snaps in the 31-24 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday, offensive lineman Robert Jones missed practice Wednesday and was placed on the COVID-19 list.

The same thing happened with wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr., who is on injured reserve and out for the season.

Already on the COVID-19 list were cornerback Justin Coleman (from the active roster) and running back Gerrid Doaks (from the practice squad).

PRACTICE REPORT

Wide receiver Albert Wilson also missed practice Wednesday, with head coach Brian Flores saying in the morning he'd be out for personal reasons. Flores said he did expect Wilson to play against the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.

While every other player was accounted for at practice, according to pool reporters Daniel Oyefusi of The Miami Herald and Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post, there was no information on which players might have been limited in practice because the Dolphins don't have to put out their first injury report of the week until Thursday because of the Monday night game.

As a reminder, tight end Adam Shaheen was the only player listed as questionable last week who was inactive against the Jets.

WADDLE WATCH

Rookie wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was back at practice Wednesday after being forced to miss an NFL game for the first time because he was on the COVID-19 list until Monday.

Waddle said he experienced no symptoms and spent Sunday "chilling, cheering from afar."

Good thing for Waddle, this wasn't like last year when had to miss seven games during his final season at the University of Alabama after breaking an ankle.

“Yeah, it was very disappointing (to miss the Jets game)," he said. "I watched enough games last year when I was in college. I was very anxious to come back and try to help out.”

LINDSAY'S COVID EXPERIENCE

Running back Phillip Lindsay also was back at practice Wednesday after coming off the COVID-19 list and he began his Zoom media session by doing something we don't see very often: He thanked the media for having him on the Zoom.

Lindsay then talked about his own COVID-19 experience, which like Waddle didn't include any symptoms.

"For me it was like everybody in the running back room was popping positive, so I was like, let me go and make sure I’m OK so I don’t bring it into anybody else, and sure enough I went in there and I popped positive for it," he said. "I did what the protocol asked me to do. I stuck to it and I’m just glad – I’ve had family members that actually had to be hospitalized because of this. I have a son that is 1 year old. It was very scary just to know that even though nothing was wrong with me, how it was going to affect my family.”

TUA'S ANGRY RUN

Tua Tagovailoa got a lot of media attention for bowling over Jets defensive back Michael Carter II at the end of a scramble Sunday, including getting top nod as the best "Angry Run" of the week from Good Morning Football co-host Kyle Brandt.

But remember how Tua said after the game to remind him never to do that again? Well, it sure sounds like that's exactly the same feeling shared by Flores.

“I think when you’re in the moment – you want to see – most guys slide in that situation," Flores said. "I’m not sure if he thought he was going to get a first down. But when you’re in the moment, those guys have to make decisions. Obviously we want them to protect themselves and we want him to protect himself. I’d prefer that he slides and keeps himself out of harm’s way. But I’m not the one that’s out there and I’ll tell him that. He’s got to make decisions out there. But he got up and moved on to the next play.”

FLORES GETTING RECOGNITION

It wasn't so long ago that the idea of Brian Flores getting even mentioned with the phrase Coach of the Year would have sounded preposterous, but this is what happens when a team goes from 1-7 to 7-7.

Flores is tied for the fifth-favorite to win the award, according to BetOnline's most recent odds, listed as 18/1 along with Frank Reich of the Colts.

Flores was off the boards for about a month after the Dolphins lost to the Atlanta Falcons to fall to 1-6 before re-appearing with 100/1 odds after the first victory against the New York Jets on Nov. 21.

For those wondering, the favorite per BetOnline is Bill Belichick at even money, followed by Matt LaFleur (11/4), Kliff Kingsbury (12/1) and Sean McVay (12/1).

In terms of major individual awards, no Dolphins player is listed. The Offensive Rookie of the Year race is down to Mac Jones and Ja'Marr Chase according to BetOnline (www.betonline.ag), which has Dallas linebacker Micah Parsons as having already wrapped up the Defensive Player of the Year award.