When the Miami Dolphins took the field on Monday night against the New York Jets, new Dolphins tight end Darren Waller played for the first time in 631 days.
Waller came out of retirement this year after not playing in 2024, and he played his first game for the Dolphins on Monday in a 27-21 victory over the New York Jets. Waller caught the first touchdown of the game on a 4-yard pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and Waller finished with three receptions for 27 yards and two touchdowns for the night.
“It’s a lot to process,” Waller told reporters afterward. “Very exciting, just very exciting, just to be out there the whole day. Little bit of fear, little bit of everything, you know?”
“I haven’t really been practicing a ton, haven’t really done a lot with the team, so it’s like, ‘I’ve got to find a way to get back out there and get into a rhythm and just be somebody that this team can rely on and give this team a return on their investment,” Waller added.
Miami acquired Waller via a trade with the New York Giants, which Waller last played for in 2023. The Giants sent Waller and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the Dolphins for a sixth-round pick in July.
Waller needed to ease back into the NFL game, and the Dolphins activated him in August but didn’t send him on the field until the Jets game. The 10th-year veteran has 350 receptions for 4,124 yards and 20 touchdowns in his career.
“You can’t always predict how your body will respond from having time away,” Waller told reporters in August via the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Mostly, it’s just my body responding well and, in some ways, it didn’t, so it was just like being cautious in that way to, I guess, look at the bigger picture as opposed to maybe rushing in to get ready for the very beginning.”
Mike McDaniel Took Time Getting Darren Waller on Field
Dolphins head coach Mike Daniel didn’t want to rush him on the field either. McDaniel also said he “didn’t want to overcook it” when it came to timing with Waller.
“It inspires me and I think it inspires his teammates,” McDaniel told reporters afterward. “A guy that has a love for the game of football and does the journey to get back.”
“Everybody kind of I think empathized, but at the same time, it’s tough when you get to a new team and then you’re a partial participator, and it takes a while,” McDaniel added. “All he’s done is everything that he possibly can do and put his best foot forward, and he has been a phenomenal contributor to our team.”
Tua Tagovailoa Likes What He Sees in Darren Waller
Tagovailoa also liked how it worked on Monday with Waller. Besides their first touchdown connection, Tagovailoa found Waller again on a 9-yard touchdown pass for a 17-3 lead in the third quarter.
“Yeah, I mean, he played really good,” Tagovailoa told reporters afterward. “Any time you get the ball in your hands and you score twice, that shows us that you’re a viable option for us or you could be a viable option for us.”
Darren Waller Sends Message to Dolphins Amid Debut