The Tyreek Hill Update

The Miami Dolphins All-Pro wide receiver is dealing with an apparent thumb injury.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) reacts as he walks on the field before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Tyreek Hill is the latest Miami Dolphins wide receiver to be dealing with an injury, but head coach Mike McDaniel didn't sound worried about his status one bit Wednesday morning.

Asked about Hill's apparent thumb injury, McDaniel began explaining what was going on with his All-Pro wide receiver with a joke.

"Yeah, I'm really good at thorumb war," McDaniel began. "He lost."

McDaniel then got serious and explained that Hill's injury was very minor. However, for precautionary reasons, he won't participate in team periods in the joint practice against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the preseason finale on Friday night.

"I kind of alluded to it with Jaylen Waddle back at home, but there's certain situations where you're in training camp and you're practicing and Tyreek could practice today," McDaniel said. "However, there's also times that because of the timing of where their bodies are at, kind of puts them at risk to get further injury.

"And so that's really, from a medical standpoint, you're just trying to let something cool down so you don't have something happen at the expense of regular season games. So he's been very active, but we're trying to make sure there's nothing...we keep him out of harm's way."

Hill is the latest in a long line of Dolphins wide receivers dealing with injuries, joining Waddle, River Cracraft, Odell Beckham, Jr., Tahj Washington, and Braylon Sanders.

McDaniel addressed all the wide receiver injuries earlier this week.

"There has been a little stress on the depth of the room, but there's also different caveats to that," McDaniel said. "Are we approaching Jaylen Waddle the same way that we would in season? The answer is no. That there's things of that nature that come up a ton. We are getting, we've had a couple lineup changes, I think would be a conservative way to say it. But we're also getting a very clear picture of some very, very strong battles and giving guys opportunities."

WHAT NOW AT WIDE RECEIVER?

Cracraft's injury might have created some clarity regarding the 53-man roster because it would seem to open the door for Erik Ezukanma, who had a great outing against Washington in his first preseason action of the summer, even if Beckham starts the regular season on the active roster.

Assuming the Dolphins keep six wide receivers, Ezukanma could join Hill, Waddle, OBJ, Braxton Berrios, and rookie sixth-round pick Malik Washington, whose spot on the roster appears solid.

If Beckham begins the season on Reserve/PUP, which would sideline him for the first four games, then the Dolphins might start out with five wide receivers and create another opening at a different position.