MIAMI GARDENS ― Darren Waller returned to practice for the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday, Aug. 27, catching passes from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
It’s been a long road back.
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Waller was acquired in a trade with the Giants on July 7 but did not practice at all in training camp as he worked his way back to football shape.
“There’s a physical demand,” Waller said after his first Dolphins practice as a participant. “There’s a mental demand, an emotional demand.”
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel repeatedly said that because Waller was retired and did not play last season, he wanted to ease the tight end back into action slowly.
“Got to knock some rust off,” Waller said after practice. “But I’m just grateful to be where I’m at today.”
Waller, 32, had more than 1,000 yards receiving for the Raiders in 2019 and 2020, where current Dolphins assistant Frank Smith was coaching at the time.
Miami needs Waller to play a big part in replacing traded Jonnu Smith.
Waller plans to take a ton of reps with Tagovailoa before the season opener at Indianapolis.
“Just getting reps, getting time under tension, knowing how he’s getting the ball off when he hits his drop,” Waller said. “What that looks like for me, whip my head around and having that ball come in which I felt like was a great start today. It’s just time, just continuing to grind at it and those things start to become second nature.”
Waller believes he’ll be ready to roll on Sept. 7.
“There’s always joy to be found, always joy to be had,” Waller said of his return to the game. “Even with me getting back out to practice and just getting my feet back underneath me, just get out there, feel how the pads feel, feeling the sun beating on you a little bit, it’s good. It feels like football and I have too many memories to count of football being good to me and I feel like there’s more to come.”