Dolphins update status of Waddle, Phillips, Armstead, Ahmed. And notes on every position

Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle is in concussion protocol after taking a hit in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win at the Patriots, coach Mike McDaniel said Monday.

Waddle caught four passes for 86 yards before departing. Waddle was in good spirits after the game, per CBS 4.

As for other injuries, running back Salvon Ahmed — who left for good in the second quarter Sunday — did not tear his groin, but the timetable for his return hasn’t been determined. “It’s not an overly long situation,” McDaniel said.

Linebacker Jaelan Phillips missed the game after sustaining a back injury at Friday’s practice.

McDaniel said Phillips was “pretty frustrated he wasn’t allowed to play” against New England. “From a medical perspective, we thought it wasn’t worth the risk. Long-term vision, we felt he may be at risk for a bigger issue if he would have played.”

NBC reported that Dolphins coaches expect Phillips to return this week against Denver at Hard Rock Stadium (1 p.m. Sunday, CBS).

Meanwhile, left tackle Terron Armstead missed a second game in a row with three injuries.

“Terron and Jaelan were very similar in that way [of wanting to play],” McDaniel said. “We want to do everything possible to avoid anything we can as far as setbacks to those players.”

McDaniel said Phillips and Armstead are “trending in the right direction” as far as playing against Denver.

NOTES BY POSITION

Some tidbits and snaps counts for Dolphins players, by position, in Sunday’s game:

▪ Quarterback: Tua Tagovailoa is now 5-0 in his career when starting against the Patriots. He is the third NFL quarterback to win five regular-season starts against New England since 2000. The others: Josh Allen (5-4) and Peyton Manning (5-10)

▪ Running back: Raheem Mostert — who ran for 121 yards (6.7 per carry) against New England — reached a top speed of 21.62 mph, the second-fastest speed by a ball carrier this season, per Next Gen Stats. The Dolphins are responsible for the three fastest speeds of the season (Tyreek Hill has the other two).

Mostert played 46 of the Dolphins’ 63 offensive snaps. Ahmed played 12 before departing.

Making his regular-season NFL debut, rookie De’Von Achane played six (and carried once for 5 yards) after Ahmed left with the injury. Fullback Alec Ingold played 38 snaps.

▪ Tight end: After playing every snap in the opener, Durham Smythe played 61 of 63 snaps against the Patriots. Tyler Kroft played three.

▪ Wide receiver: No. 3 receiver duties were again shared between Braxton Berrios (21 snaps/two for 38 yards) and River Cracraft (18 snaps/two catches for 34 yards)

Tyreek Hill played 54 snaps and Waddle 46. Erik Ezukanma played 10 snaps and ran on three of them (for 5 yards).

▪ Defensive line: Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler each played 52 of Miami’s 74 defensive snaps, with Raekwon Davis playing half the snaps (37). Da’Shawn Hand, who was signed to the 53-man roster after 10 days on the practice squad, played 10 snaps and Brandon Pili played two.

▪ Linebackers: With Phillips sidelined, the Dolphins moved Andrew Van Ginkel from inside linebacker to outside linebacker (his natural position), and he played 65 snaps — far more than Emmanuel Ogbah’s 16.

Bradley Chubb played 67, and former Patriots edge player Chase Winovich played two defensive snaps in his Dolphins debut.

At inside linebacker, Jerome Baker played all 74 snaps, David Long Jr. logged 62 and Duke Riley one. As is usually the case, Channing Tindall played only on special teams.

▪ Safety: Jevon Holland and DeShon Elliott each played all 74 snaps. The Dolphins again bypassed using Brandon Jones, last year’s starter, beyond his 15 snaps on special teams. Jones — coming off last October’s knee injury — played just two defensive snaps in the opener.

▪ Cornerback: Xavien Howard and Kader Kohou played all 74 snaps, and the Patriots consistently targeted Eli Apple, who logged 68 snaps. Justin Bethel played 10 snaps on defense.

Cornerbacks Cam Smith and Parry Nickerson again played only on special teams.

With his 29th interception, Howard tied Patrick Surtain and Glenn Blackwood on the Dolphins’ all-time list — trailing Jake Scott (35), Dick Anderson (34) and Dolphins cornerbacks coach Sam Madison (31).

Howard’s 29 interceptions are his most since he entered the team in 2016.

▪ Jason Sanders — who missed a 55-yard field-goal attempt and had a 49-yarder blocked — is now 4 for 13 on field goals of 50 yards or more since the start of the 2021 season. That’s the worse percentage on such kicks for any NFL team over that time period.

McDaniel said he planned on going for it on the fourth down preceding the late Sanders miss from 55 yards, “but we had a mishandled exchange under center, which lost 2 yards [on third down]. I didn’t think it was responsible to go that direction.”

The Dolphins were in a fourth-and-3 situation when they tried that missed field goal. “We felt confidence in Jason,” McDaniel said.

He indicated he’s not overly concerned about the handful of center/snap exchange issues early in the season.