MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins’ prize free agent signing is expecting good news from the doctors.
Guard James Daniels is meeting with the medical staff this week and expects to be cleared to practice with no restrictions. Daniels suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 4 last season while playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Progress is going well,” said Daniels, 27, who has practiced with some limitations. “I believe (after meeting with the doctor) I’ll be cleared. So progress has been going good. It’s really been nice. It just sucks, it’s hard to play football when you don’t have pads on.”
Daniels signed a three-year, $24-million deal in March to help bolster the Dolphins’ offensive line. Daniels is being counted on to protect quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and improve an inept rushing game.
Miami was 21st in the league with 105.6 yards on the ground per game in 2024.
The 6-foot-4, 320-pound Daniels has been sharing snaps with Kion Smith at right guard.
“You can do as much drill work, you can push as many sleds as you want, but really going out there and having to play and react, it’s been really good for me,” said Daniels, in his eighth year out of Iowa. He was a second-round pick by the Bears in 2018.
“I’ve been grateful for the trainers and the plan they have me on to ramp me up. So it’s been good so far.”
The July 29 practice, the sixth of training camp, was the Dolphins’ first in pads.
“When you’re not in pads, linebackers aren’t sticking their shoulders,” Daniels said. “We’re protecting each other but (with) pads on you can stick your shoulder in or we could do one-on-one pass rush … they can actually play box they can actually bull rush things like that. So it’s very helpful for us and the defense as well.”
Daniels has sought advice from others who suffered the same injury and now wants to help anyone who suffers the same injury down the road. He spoke with Ike Boettger, who tore his Achilles while at the University of Iowa and again playing for the Buffalo Bills.
Boettger and Daniels were teammates and fellow guards at Iowa.
“His was way worse than mine,” Daniels said. “He was also in his contract year (in Buffalo) …so he was a very good person to talk to.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins’ James Daniels expects to be fully cleared for practice this week
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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