MIAMI GARDENS — The one previous time Miami Dolphins tight end Darren Waller played in Cleveland, he confused a pizza box flapping high in the sky among extreme wind gusts for a large soaring bird.
The Dolphins started Friday by practicing in their indoor facility and then trotted out to a pleasant 82-degree sunny day with partial cloud coverage and sporadic cooling wind breezes.
Those aren’t nearly the conditions they’ll be facing in Cleveland when they kick off against the Browns on Sunday.
The forecast, according to Accuweather as of Friday afternoon, calls for wind blowing south-southwest at 27 mph with gusts up to a whopping 52 mph. That’s enough to qualify for a tropical storm.
There is a 96 percent chance of precipitation, with a 29 percent probability of thunderstorms. At least the October daytime temperatures for the 1 p.m. kickoff at Huntington Bank Field should be in the 60s.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, on Friday, said he’s not allowing the elements to become a factor in preparation until closer to game time.
“My philosophy is to make sure not to make the weather the opponent, that the Browns are,” said McDaniel, recalling how last December’s trip to Cleveland didn’t turn out how many weather forecasts predicted earlier in the week. “All week, I can’t remember if it was rain, sleet, snow or hail, but there were a lot of things that were talked about during the week that didn’t show up on Sunday.
“For me, I prepare and kind of weave it into the conversation closer to the game. The night before the game is when the weather predictions are a little bit more accurate. We all know weather predictions are an inexact science, so I think you make the opponent the team you’re playing, not the weather.”
Waller has vivid memories of his lone previous trip to the city just south of Lake Erie in northeast Ohio, in November 2020 amid empty seats during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“I thought I saw a bird in the sky. It was a pizza box in the air, dead serious,” the big pass-catching tight end said. “Bro, the pizza box was above the upper deck like it was about to fly out the stadium. It was that windy.”
Not only that.
“It was hailing,” Waller said. “It felt like broken glass was coming from the sky.”
Those who were with the Dolphins last year got a glimpse of it in late December, when Tyler “Snoop” Huntley quarterbacked the team to a win with Tua Tagovailoa injured. It remains Miami’s last road win, starting the 2025 season 0-3 away from Hard Rock Stadium.
“I remember the freaking field was kind of slippery, but outside of that, it was ready,” wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “It’s going to be a great challenge. It’s the sport we play, and it can be any type of weather, any type of day. So just going out there, playing, it’ll be good.”
Heavy wind and wet conditions could affect both teams’ passing game, but defensive backs could also be put in challenging situations in coverage, having to react against routes from receivers with their feet over a wet surface.
“At the end of the day, we have to go up there and play, whether it’s rain, snow, sleet, hail, whatever,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “It’s the game of football. It’s unpredictable. You can’t control the conditions.”
As much as McDaniel doesn’t allow the weather to be a factor until Saturday, when the team travels, special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman does have to get out in front of the elements.
“I had water bottles out there (Wednesday) to practice some wet-ball drills and things like that,” Aukerman said Thursday morning, adding he would do more of it throughout the week. “We’ve got to make it somewhat similar. Now, we can’t have a bunch of people blowing the wind and stuff like that, but wet-ball stuff that we can end up doing, putting the ball in water and things like that, the handling of it with our returners, the handling of it with our punter — not only on the punts but on the field goals.”
As for those winds, Aukerman and his specialists will have to get an early read on it Sunday from Cleveland.
“That’s going to be the biggest thing. Having those guys out there early, understanding which way the wind is,” he said. “Is it left to right, right to left, or is it going to be on your back? Is it going to be towards you? Those are the things that we’ll have an open dialogue with the kicker and the punter, myself and Mike, because that’s a lot of things that could happen.”
The wind could ultimately determine how long of field goals the Dolphins are willing to try, depending on the direction they’re driving.
