Trey Moore, who had emerged as a front-runner to start at linebacker for the Dolphins, will be out awhile after sustaining an ankle injury during Saturday’s 26-3 preseason loss to the Giants.
Moore landed awkwardly on his left leg while rushing Jameis Winston early in the game. Unable to put pressure on the leg, Moore initially walked off with assistance from team staffers and then was carted off the locker room.
Coach Jeff Hafley said Sunday that Moore will miss “some time. I don’t see him back being soon. I’m not sure how long it will be. We will determine that after all the testing gets done.”
With Moore sidelined, Willie Gay Jr. could emerge as a starter at linebacker. Gay had eight tackles Saturday.
The Dolphins selected Moore in the fourth round, 130th overall, in April’s draft. He had a combined 70 tackles and 8.5 sacks over two seasons at Texas, after playing three years at Texas San Antonio.
In other injury news, Hafley said running back Ollie Gordon II is OK. He left the game after being hit in the ribs “and was cleared to go back in the game.” The Dolphins opted to keep him out of the game for precautionary reasons.
Linebacker Ronnie Harrison has a hamstring injury and is unlikely to play in the preseason finale at home Friday against Atlanta, Hafley said.
This and that
▪ It’s possible some Dolphins starters might play Friday against the Falcons, but Hafley also wants to give a lot of snaps and a “fair chance” to players on the bubble. Most Dolphins starters did not play against the Giants.
He said this week of practice will be different than previous weeks. “We have to ramp this up and ready get ready for the season, [do] some more situational football,” he said.
▪ How did the rookies play Saturday? “Some guys stood out, helped their cases. Clearly, we have some work to do. There were some mental mistakes. There were some physical mistakes… The outcome wasn’t what we wanted. That’s coaching. That’s playing. It needs to be better in a lot of those cases.”
▪ Safety Dante Trader Jr. returned Saturday after missing some time with an injury.
“I liked his physicality,” Hafley said. “I thought he did a really nice job. He tackled well. Thought his effort was outstanding. He saved us on a play early on where there was a bust in coverage… and he got [a Giants player] down. It would have been a huge play if he didn’t. That puts him back right where he left off, in a great spot to be in the mix and compete for that starting position.”
▪ How aggressive will the Dolphins be with claiming players on waivers?
“It’s a conversation [general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan] and I constantly have,” Hafley said. “We owe it to this team and the organization that if we feel there are players out there who can help this roster, we need to be aggressive. Sully and his entire staff are working really hard at that. That’s something we are going to have to look at throughout the season as we move forward.”
▪ The Dolphins’ starting offensive line included only one projected starter (left guard Kadyn Proctor), joining right tackle Caedan Wallace, right guard Josh Priebe, center Andrew Meyer and left tackle Charlie Heck.
Rookie sixth-round pick DJ Campbell replaced Proctor after one series and played the rest of the game, initially at left guard and then at right guard.
Heck had a holding penalty, Wallace permitted three quarterback pressures and Meyer allowed a sack. Campbell did not allow a sack or pressure on 18 pass blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
▪ Hafley was irked about a series of mistakes, including Bradley Pinion’s shanked 15 yard punt, Ethan Bonner’s holding penalty on a punt return, Tahj Washington’s lost fumble on a punt return and Lonnie Johnson’s holding penalty on a kickoff return.
▪ PFF rated receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., Priebe, Wallace, Campbell and running back Carlos Washington Jr. as the Dolphins’ best players on offense. PFF rated receiver Jalen Tolbert, Heck, receiver Tutu Atwell, running back Jaylen Wright and quarterback Mark Gronowski as the worst.
▪ Defensively, PFF rated linebacker Jackson Woodard and cornerbacks Alex Austin, Marco Wilson and Ahmari Harvey as Miami’s best players Saturday, and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, safety Johnson, linebacker Cam Riley, safety Zayne Anderson and defensive tackle Alex Huntley as the worst.
▪ Hafley said even though quarterbacks Cam Miller and Gronowski were put in some tough situations, “there were times it wasn’t good enough…. It needs to improve.” He said Miami’s 37 offensive snaps were “the lowest I’ve seen in my life.”
Hafley said he’s “hopeful” that No. 2 quarterback Quinn Ewers will be able to practice this week after missing last week with a groin injury.
▪ Hafley said defensive tackle Keith Cooper Jr. “has gotten better and better. He’s a guy in my opinion who has made one of the biggest jumps from where he started to now. We played him on the inside [and] outside.”
▪ With a temperature of 94 degrees at kickoff, Saturday’s game tied for the warmest in Dolphins history.
This story was originally published August 23, 2026 at 12:15 PM.
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.