If you ask any NFL fan, their favorite team has the most injuries. The reality is, football's a brutal sport. You'll often hear players tout the 100% injury rate, and it rings true. If you try to think of just about any football player — specialists aside — they usually have some battle scars from their careers. Broken bones, torn ligaments, and a parade of other maladies are a given in this line of work. To whom much is given, much is expected.
The problem is, there's a line for every player. Stars may get years to get back on the field (looking at you, Bradley Chubb), while bottom-of-the-roster guys can sometimes lose their jobs over a pulled hamstring or dislocated pinky. It's a ruthless business. A one-time Miami Dolphins fan-favorite may be running out of time to prove he belongs.
Storm Duck signed with the Dolphins in 2024 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of North Carolina. He wound up appearing in 14 games and getting cult-hero status for his unique name as well as the potential he flashed as a rookie. There were certainly bumps along the way, but he showed enough in that campaign to earn pole position for a starting gig in 2025.
His season was derailed by injuries that he is still recovering from today, a development that drew a candid response from the Dolphins' new head coach, Jeff Hafley, when asked about Duck's and fellow defensive back Darrell Baker Jr.'s injury statuses.
"You know, I wish [Storm Duck and Darrell Baker Jr.] were coming along a little bit quicker. But, we'll have to wait and see how they are once we get going."
Miami Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley's injury comment could hint at a bleak ending to a promising start for Storm Duck
It's somewhat rare for a coach to openly gripe about a player's recovery time. While I'm sure every coach feels the same way, it's not something you hear every day. Even from the more obvious perspective, everyone — player included — wishes they weren't rehabbing an injury to begin with. The problem for Duck lies in the fact that the staff who identified him and believed in him have been entirely cleaned out.
The only constant through the five-month relationship between Jeff Hafley and Storm Duck is Duck's presence in the training room. What's worse, Hafley had a front-row seat to Duck's lousiest game as a pro. It was Thanksgiving night in 2024, when Jordan Love went duck hunting and completed six of six passes for 83 yards and two TDs — for a perfect passer rating — in his coverage area.
In any case, with roster spots not at a premium at this juncture and the team about to head off on their summer break through late July, the prudent approach would be to give Duck another month-plus to get right.
Duck is in the middle of a wide-open cornerback room with no solidified starter outside of first-round pick Chris Johnson. The frontrunners for the opposite role are JuJu Brents, Darrell Baker Jr., Jason Marshall Jr., and Marco Wilson, though it'd be foolish to count out any of the youngsters behind them on the depth chart. It certainly helps that Duck is in the mold that general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan covets at the position.
It will be a stiff competition to be sure, but Duck and fans alike would love to see him healthy and participating at full strength — before seeing the chips fall where they may.
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