How Miami Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle came up with a statement game

Jaylen Waddle got a great birthday present on Sunday, even if it was a day early.

The Miami Dolphins wide receiver returned to prominence on offense in the team’s 34-15 win over the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium, delivering the second-best performance of his NFL career in terms of yardage.

Aside from the fact that Tua Tagovailoa looked his way more than he has all season, there were other differences from Waddle that day.

Waddle caught eight passes for 144 yards and a touchdown against New England, with nine new season highs in catches and targets. The only time Waddle had more than the 144 yards he accumulated against the Patriots was in Week 2 of the 2022 season when he had 171 yards in the remarkable 42-38 comeback win against the Baltimore Ravens.

As always, Waddle used his speed well against New England, but also made a few difficult catches, which hasn’t been his calling card since he arrived as the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The first was a diving catch on a pass just above the ground, confirmed after New England appealed the ruling, and was good for 21 yards.

The second came when he ran down the left sideline and jumped back to the line of scrimmage to catch an underthrown pass for a 29-yard gain.

This is different from the type of catches we are used to from Waddle.

One could assume that Waddle came up with these because he was more involved because he was used more often.

Whatever the reason, it was a great day for Waddle, who hadn’t rushed for 60 yards in a game since the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

However, Waddle refused to entertain the idea, frustrated by his lack of options on offense.

“No, man, the losses bothered me more than the individual losses because I scored individual goals or something like that,” he said after the game. “It’s actually more of a media thing.”

The wide receiver capped his day with a 23-yard touchdown catch that made it 31-0 when Tagovailoa hit him in the middle of the field while looking out to push defenders away.

“Tua kind of wasn’t looking, so that messed me up a little bit, but yeah, man, I just had determination,” Waddle said. “(WR coach Wes Welker) has been telling me all week and the last few weeks about getting in the box and I just had to fight to really get in there.”

What’s unique about Waddle’s touchdown is that he didn’t celebrate it in the usual way. That meant no “waddle” like a penguin.

Waddle explained the reason for missing his usual celebration.

“I don’t know, man,” he said. “It got out of control. When I go out in public, people try to tell me to do it, so it’s just like, ah… I don’t know if it’s retiring. It needs a break.” little minute.