Dolphins get key player back for joint Bears practices. And NFL rule helps Dolphins

Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Wednesday that tight end Hunter Long, who was carted off the field during Sunday’s practice, traveled with the team and is day to day.

That’s encouraging, because Long couldn’t put weight on his leg on Sunday, and the Dolphins declined to say Monday if he would miss the entire season.

One important caveat: Flores indicated in recent days that he would refer to every injury as day to day, no matter the severity. Last season, the Dolphins listed Preston Williams as day to day even after season-ending foot surgery.

And Long will miss Wednesday’s practice.

“He’s working hard to get back as soon as he can,” Flores said, declining to say what the injury is.

Every Dolphins player traveled to Chicago, including two who have missed most of training camp: linebacker Jaelan Phillips and wide receiver Will Fuller.

Phillips will practice on Wednesday after being injured during Miami’s third training camp practice. He impressed coaches before the lower-body injury sidelined him.

But receivers Fuller, DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson will not be practicing on Wednesday, Flores said.

Parker has dealt with a hamstring issue all camp. Wilson missed Sunday’s practice with an undisclosed issue but seemed to be walking fine.

And the Dolphins received some good news when the NFL announced this week that it would use the same looser injured reserve rules that it implemented last season during the pandemic.

Under those rules, an unlimited number of players can return from a team’s injured reserve list, and they are eligible after missing a minimum of only three games.

After three weeks, the player becomes eligible to return to practice.

Once he returns to practice, the team has 21 days to place him back on the active roster.

Previously, a team had only two IR-return designations it could use in a season and a player was required to miss a minimum of eight weeks. Only players on the 53-player roster after Sept. 1 can be designated for return from IR or the non-football injury list.

So hypothetically, if the Dolphins believed Fuller isn’t ready to start the season - he’s suspended by the NFL for Week 1 anyway - there is now a mechanism to bring him back after three games without using a spot on the 53-man roster.

And that’s also the case with any other player.

If a Dolphins player begins the regular season on PUP instead, he would miss six weeks. Preston Williams and Elandon Roberts are on PUP.

Flores, incidentally, said cornerback Xavien Howard would continue practicing; he returned Sunday after missing a week with an ankle injury.

“We’ll have a schedule, process to get him ready to go” for the season, Flores said.

Flores addressed other issues before the first of two joint practices with the Chicago Bears in Lake Forest, Ill.:

▪ Flores said Tua Tagovailoa will play in Saturday’s preseason game against the Bears (1 p.m., CBS-4, NFL Network). He said he hasn’t determined how much each starter will play.

▪ On how the joint practices will be handled: “There are rules of engagement. Obviously no fighting, no cut block. We want to get good work and good competition but at the same time we want to keep everyone safe and healthy.”

▪ Flores welcomes these practices: “It’s good to see a new team with guys who have different skill sets and different concepts. There’s energy and excitement to go out there and practice against the Bears. Great opportunity to see our players against different players, different skill sets, different concepts.”

Miami Herald correspondent Dan Dorfman contributed to this report from Chicago.