The Miami Dolphins will play quarterback Daniel Jones and the New York Giants on Sunday with the hope of improving their record to 4-1 on the season. Both the Dolphins and Giants received positive news ahead of their Week 5 matchup.
Firstly, Giants running back Saquon Barkley will do some team reps for the first time since he suffered an injury in the team’s Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals.
RB Saquon Barkley (ankle) will do some team reps for first time since the injury, per Brian Daboll. This is a good sign.
LT Andrew Thomas (hamstring) will not practice. #giants
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) October 4, 2023
For the Dolphins, head coach Mike McDaniel said that left tackle Terron Armstead is “feeling pretty solid.”
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said it's too early to determine if Terron Armstead will require an IR stint. "He's feeling pretty solid relative to where he was worried he'd feel."
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) October 4, 2023
Also, Robert Jones and Nik Needham will participate in Wednesday’s practice.
Nik Needham and Rob Jones will practice today for Dolphins
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 4, 2023
The team reportedly feels good about safety DeShon Elliott. He missed Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills due to injury. Also, there was an optimistic update given on Jaelan Phillips.
Dolphins feel good about DeShon Elliott. Mike McDaniel adds he gets optimistic and hopeful on Jaelan Phillips in part because he really likes watching him play. Mike is hopeful and he is progressing but they don’t want lingering issues.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 4, 2023
In addition, starting center Connor Williams practiced, but Armstead, Raheem Mostert and Justin Bethel did not practice.
EDGE Jaelan Phillips, center Connor Williams and safety DeShon Elliott — 3 Dolphins starters who missed Sunday’s loss to Bills — practiced today.
No practice for LT Terron Armstead, RB Raheem Mostert or CB Justin Bethel. https://t.co/WddFsLpESv
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 4, 2023
Barkley was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft after a three-season spent playing college football at Pennsylvania State University. He racked up 1,000-plus rushing yards and seven-plus rushing touchdowns in each of his three seasons as a member of the Nittany Lions.
The running back has played six seasons in the NFL, all as a member of the Giants franchise. He ran for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 games played with the Giants during the 2022 regular season (all starts).
Also, his longest rushing attempt a season ago was for a whopping 68 yards.
Meanwhile, Elliott was selected with the No. 190 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft after spending three seasons playing college football at the University of Texas at Austin.
He has played for three teams — the Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions and Dolphins — across his five seasons in the NFL. He totaled 73 solo tackles, three quarterback hits, one interception and one forced fumble in 14 appearances with the Lions during the 2022 regular season (13 starts).
Here’s to hoping that Barkley will be able to play for the Giants in Sunday’s game and Elliott will be able to play for the Dolphins. After all, the former is one of the best offensive players on New York, while the latter is one of Miami’s best defensive players.
