Dolphins Tight End Tales

Hunter Long's appearance in the first joint practice in Chicago was an encouraging sign for the team

While Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores continues to describe every injury to the media as a day-to-day issue, it's not always easy to get a clear picture in terms of severity and timetables.

But there always are signs that provide all least some sort of indication.

One of those is having a player at practice, which doesn't happen if a player is going to be out for the season. Another is the appearance — or lack thereof — of compression sleeves or braces or slings.

So with that in mind, it certainly appears as though rookie tight end Hunter Long's injury isn't as significant as it looked Sunday when he couldn't put any weight on his left leg as he was being placed on a cart to be carried off the practice field.

Long not only made the trip to Chicago, he was present at the practice Wednesday. And while he didn't participate in the joint session, he was there with his jersey on but more importantly without anything supporting his left leg.

That certainly would jibe with the reports that his injury isn't that severe, even though he still might be out of action for more than a few days.

While we don't want to speculate on a timetable, just know the rules regarding IR: If a player is put on IR before the cuts to 53, he's done for the season; After the cuts to 53, any player put on IR can return after three games.

GESICKI RETURNS

Tight end Mike Gesicki was back in action Wednesday after returning from the COVID-19 list and said he felt good after his first practice.

"Honestly, I felt good. I kind of surprised myself how I felt," Gesicki said. "I’m ready to roll. I went out there, got the cobwebs off, made a few plays and all of that kind of stuff. It was good. A good day.”

There certainly was not easing back into practice for Gesicki, as he went against the Chicago defense in his first outing back.

"It was fun," he said. "It beats the heat down in Miami, especially after not doing anything for 10 days. It was good to just get back out there, get sweating and go make some plays, like I said. It was fun.”

Finally, Gesicki discussed what he did during his time away from the team to stay in shape as much as he could.

“Well, there’s not much that you can do, honestly," he said. "You can’t really go out or anything like that. I was up in my apartment. I got an AssaultBike on my balcony. I rode that a little bit. I had some dumbbells in the living room. It was really just making it work for 10 days. It is what it is. You’ve got to follow the protocols and do what you’re supposed to do.

“I felt good, honestly (Wednesday). I felt good. I had to go out there and catch a couple of balls before practice. Normally I catch a ton throughout the day on my own, so that was tough going 10 days without that. I was throwing it up and down to myself in my apartment.”

CARTER CATCHING SOME ATTENTION

One last note on the Dolphins tight ends, and that's been the under-the-radar play of Cethan Carter.

It's easy to forget about him because the Dolphins have their top three tight ends (Gesicki, Durham Smythe, Adam Shaheen) back from last year plus Long, but he has been absolutely impressive in practice throughout camp.

Carter is known as a blocking specialist and special teams contributor, but he's gotten himself open quite a bit during team drills and has caught everything thrown his way.

Because the Dolphins signed him to a three-year contract as a free agent this offseason, Carter always was expected to make the 53-man roster, but now he looks like he might be putting himself in line for possibly contributing on offense.