Mike McDaniel regrets lack of involvement for Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in Dolphins’ loss to Colts: ‘It was frustrating’

The Miami Dolphins lost to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, and wide receivers in Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill were non-factors in the defeat. The former finished with 11 receiving yards on one reception, while the latter totaled just eight yards on one reception.

In light of Miami’s third loss in its past four games — which now has the team at 2-4 on the season — Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel expressed regret at the fact that Hill and Waddle didn’t put their imprints on the contest.

“When you run the ball 40 times, it does minimize your opportunities,” McDaniel said. “And then if you’re trying to take advantage of a defense overplaying and doubling them and getting the ball to the tight end, then they have less [opportunities].

“I always look at that part of my job to find ways [to get Hill and Waddle the ball]. It was frustrating. Didn’t anticipate some of the game shaping out that way. I have to find a way specifically when they are doing their jobs at a high level. … I need to find ways to get them involved.”

McDaniel took the blame for the lackluster performances from two of the better wide receivers in the NFL.

“There’s been games in the past that maybe as they reviewed the tape and where they’re at in their careers, where they’re trying to be great, they’ve acknowledged sometimes that they’ve minimized their involvement by certain things that they can do in their game,” McDaniel said. “However, this game, I didn’t see that. … I have to keep them involved.”

The Dolphins relied heavily on their running backs — including De’Von Achane, Raheem Mostert and Jaylen Wright — to carry the offensive load against the Colts, and that strategy came back to bite them in the second half. After having a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 10-3 edge at halftime, Miami went scoreless across the final two frames of the contest. The Colts, on the other hand, scored 13 points during that span.

McDaniel ostensibly doesn’t deserve all of the blame for the fact that Waddle and Hill combined for just 19 receiving yards. Neither Tyler Huntley  — who left the game with a shoulder injury in the second half — nor Tim Boyle were effective quarterbacks for the Dolphins, as they totaled 161 passing yards between the two of them.

Sunday also didn’t mark outlier showings from Hill and Waddle, as both players are having down years. Waddle is averaging just 44.8 receiving yards per game (the lowest of his NFL career), while Hill is averaging his fewest receiving yards per game since he was a rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Unfortunately for Miami’s receivers, it’s still seemingly up in the air if quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will make his return against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 27. McDaniel recently declined to give a straight answer to the question of whether Tagovailoa will practice with the team this week or not.