Hill Sits Out, Sieler Doesn't Finish Practice
Tyreek Hill joined his fellow Miami Dolphins wide receiver speedster teammate Jaylen Waddle on the sideline at practice Wednesday, but the biggest injury news of the day was the strange situation involving Zach Sieler.
The sixth-year defensive lineman spent a good amount of time during practice flexing his left leg after sustaining an apparent injury during one-on-one pass-rushing work against offensive linemen.
Sieler went back to practice after initially being examined by trainers while on his back in the middle of the field and did work in team periods, but eventually stopped practicing after again talking to a trainer, flexing his leg and removing his helmet.
While fellow lineman Christian Wilkins' contract situation has overshadowed his, Sieler also is looking for a new deal to replace his current one, which has him massively underpaid by any NFL standard given his production for the Dolphins.
Sieler is scheduled to make only $3.2 million in 2023, the final year of the three-year contract extension he signed in 2021. Sieler was on hand for the offseason program — at least every practice open to the media — though he did not take part in team periods at that time. That was a different approach from center Connor Williams, who did not attend any of the offseason program — even the mandatory minicamp — and also is looking for a new contract.
Given Sieler's contract situation, it actually was surprising to see him return to practice after initially being hurt. Sieler has been really, really impressive throughout training camp and it's not like missing most of one practice would have drastically affected his preparation for the start of the regular season.
Obviously, Sieler felt he could continue, but the fact he kept flexing his leg throughout practice should have been a sign for him to call it a day.
The hope obviously is that the injury is very minor and Sieler will be back at practice Thursday, but let's just say that nobody needed to have Sieler continue working Wednesday if he was going to keep flexing his leg.
HILL SITS OUT
Hill was absent from practice until the halfway point when he showed up to watch wearing short and a T-shirt.
The Pro Bowl wide receiver said after a joint practice in Houston last week that he was supposed to have the day off at that time but wanted to get some work in, so perhaps this was a make-up vet rest day for him.
Hill and Waddle actually caught soft passes on the field between drills.
