Dolphins Dealt Bad Chris Bell Injury News

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MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 01: Christian Elliss #53 of the New England Patriots tackles Chris Bell #18 of the Miami Dolphins during the second half of the game at Hard Rock Stadium on November 01, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The Miami Dolphins have a different task ahead of them in Week 10 when they take on the depleted Indianapolis Colts. They’ll have Kyle McCord playing quarterback after Malik Willis was placed on injured reserve.

That makes the wide receivers particularly important, because it’ll be up to them to help McCord look good and feel comfortable. So a negative trend on the injury report before Sunday is not a good sign, but that’s what the Dolphins got with Chris Bell.

Miami’s second injury report of the week, released Thursday afternoon, didn’t have many bad marks — but one stood out as a definite downturn.

Bell is in a worse spot through Thursday than he appeared to be through Wednesday.

Chris Bell Injury News

GettySANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 20: Chris Bell #18 of the Miami Dolphins reaches for the ball while covered by Jack Jones #25 of the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on September 20, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Bell was already on the injury report after Wednesday’s practice. He was listed as limited with a knee injury.

The problem on Thursday is that Bell didn’t practice at all.

A player going from limited to a ‘DNP’ can mean a couple things.

It could mean that Bell hurt his knee late in Wednesday’s practice, which made him technically limited that day and then stopped him from doing anything Thursday.

It could also mean that practicing on Wednesday was always going to be limited for Bell, but that even a light workload did further damage to his knee.

Either way, it’s not a good sign for his Sunday availability that Bell dropped to a ‘DNP’ for Thursday’s practice.

Dolphins WR Depth Chart

GettyLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 13: Chris Bell #18, Malik Washington #6, Kevin Coleman Jr. #21, Malik Willis #2 and Caleb Douglas #7 of the Miami Dolphins stand for the National Anthem before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on September 13, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Dolphins have two receivers who seem clearly ahead of Bell in usage: fellow third-round rookie Caleb Douglas, as well as talented slot guy Malik Washington.

If Bell can’t play on Sunday, it would likely push fifth-round rookie Kevin Coleman Jr. into a larger role.

The other active roster receivers for the Dolphins beyond that are Jalen Tolbert and Jared Wayne.

For what it’s worth, Wayne also popped onto the injury report. He wasn’t even listed Wednesday, but he was shown as limited Thursday due to a hamstring injury. That could mean it was a mid-practice injury, and his status on Friday’s report will be revealing, too.