MADRID (AP) 鈥� Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel enters the game against the Washington Commanders encouraged by the strong progress made by receiver Jaylen Waddle and running back De鈥橵on Achane.
The (3-7) take on the (3-7) on Sunday in Spain looking to keep the momentum going from their 30-13 win over the Buffalo Bills, a game where Waddle and Achane combined for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns.
Waddle, the team’s new No. 1 receiver after Tyreek Hill got injured, scored once and had 84 yards on five catches against the Bills.
鈥淚 would say that it鈥檚 been a pretty steady progression in the details of Waddle鈥檚 game,” McDaniel said Friday. “I think that gave him an opportunity that when we had some potential targets lost with some injuries, that opportunity hit him at a great time in where his development already was.
鈥淚 think when you have a receiver as talented as him and he is a football player, those are why he鈥檚 so important to me and this team because football players win,鈥� McDaniel said.
Achane finished with 225 scrimmage yards against the Bills and had fourth-quarter touchdowns of 59 and 35 yards. He had six catches for 51 yards and rushed for 174 yards.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to him to continue to get better and develop because he has high aspirations himself for a career,鈥� McDaniel said. 鈥淚n that, he鈥檚 finding ways to do what he does best more often. He鈥檚 really good at having a defender in front of him that鈥檚 trying to tackle him and in a split second, finding the edge of a tackler and breaking the tackle. For a smaller guy, he breaks a lot of tackles because of that. He鈥檚 doing that more often, utilizing that ability more often and getting more production in tight quarter situations.鈥�
McDaniel said Achane’s longest touchdown last week 鈥渆mbodies his development.鈥�
鈥淎nd he鈥檚 been capable of doing something like that, but that particular play, making two people miss and taking it to the house, there are very few running backs who can do that and he鈥檚 trying to do it on the regular,鈥� McDaniel said.
The coach said they are learning how to balance Achane’s workload as he continues to contribute both as a runner and a receiver.
“I think one of the things that is the saving grace for De鈥橵on is that he doesn鈥檛 take hits on directly very often. Kind of speaking to how he finds edges of defenders, he鈥檚 not too banged up after games because of his ability to take on tacklers in an aggressive way,” McDaniel said.
“When you can feel that De鈥橵on is at his best, avoiding tacklers, you try to get him the ball more until you see a dip in how he鈥檚 making defenders miss,” the coach said.
The game at Real Madrid鈥檚 will be the seventh 鈥� and final 鈥� international game of the season, the most ever in one year for the NFL as it continues to .
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