The Miami Dolphins selected wide receiver Chris Bell out of Louisville in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft despite the pass catcher’s ACL tear in November of last year. The hope was that he would eventually be healthy enough to contribute to Miami’s offense at some point during the regular season — but after head coach Jeff Hafley’s pre-practice media availability on Tuesday morning, it’s clear that Bell will be contributing much sooner than most expected.
While speaking with the South Florida
media on Tuesday, Hafley said that the team plans for Chris Bell to play in the Dolphins’ preseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday.
“You guys saw yesterday, he was out of his red [non-contact] jersey. He did team [drills], so he was in contact drills because we’re thudding. So the plan would be — today we’re going to treat like a Thursday in the season. Tomorrow we’re going to treat like a Friday in the season, so we’ll have a pretty bigger load today in practice where he’ll get more reps and hopefully he’ll continue to progress forward. And if he continues to do so, then I’d like to see him play in the game.”
Obviously, if all goes well on Friday, it sounds like Bell will be ready to take the field on September 13th when the Dolphins start their season on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Yesterday, it was reported that Bell stayed after practice with quarterback Malik Willis so the two could get extra work together in an effort to get the rookie receiver on the same page with Miami’s new gunslinger. Hopefully that continues so that Bell can be ready to be a playmaker for the Dolphins during the 2026 season and beyond.
