The Miami Dolphins are one of the first NFL teams during this summer’s training camp schedule to have to tackle the league’s revamped COVID-19 protocols and exercise caution to avoid a potential virus breakout throughout the team. Co-offensive coordinator George Godsey, who is fully vaccinated, registered a positive test for the virus early in the week and has been sidelined since; but the league policies deemed nearly Miami’s entire tight end room qualified as potential risks through contact tracing. The end result was nearly the entire tight ends room being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list out of an abundance of caution.
The preventative measures, as dictated by league protocols, appear to have prevented any additional further spread: Miami has not had any additional reported positive tests this week. And now that the dust has settled, players who were close contacts to Godsey are beginning to see their eligibility to return to practice arrive.
The Dolphins announced last night that three players were returning off of the reserve/COVID-19 list:
Roster Moves | We have activated TEs Cethan Carter and Adam Shaheen and WR Preston Williams off the reserve/COVID-19 list. We have released TE Gabe Holmes and waived TEs Sal Cannella and Kalif Jackson.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 5, 2021
The unfortunate byproduct of Miami’s return of Cethan Carter, Adam Shaheen and Preston Williams is the dismissal of the bridge players that the Dolphins brought in for just a few days of practice throughout the course of this week. Carter and Shaheen will presumably be at practice today for the Dolphins; Williams is still listed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list after offseason foot surgery.
There is one notable missing returnee for the Dolphins off of the reserve/COVID-19 list: standout receiving tight end Mike Gesicki. He is, at this point, the only Dolphins player with that roster designation. Miami will have a full weekend of practices at home before packing their bags for a trip to Chicago; so there’s still time for Gesicki to return to practice before the team’s first preseason game as well.
Don’t expect any clarity on the situation from Dolphins head coach, Brian Flores, however. He (rightfully) respects the privacy of his players; any questions about the situation will almost certainly be met with a comment about not discussing player medical and personal information. So we’ll simply need to keep our eyes peeled to the transaction wire to see when Gesicki also makes his return.
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