Read the full transcript from WR Chris Bell's postgame media availability on August 28, 2026.
How did it feel to finally be back out there? First game since late November?
Chris Bell: Yeah, it felt great. I'm not going to lie, just to step back out there on the field for my first NFL game being in Miami's stadium, it felt pretty good. So I'm just blessed, had the opportunity to be out there with some of my with my brothers.
How long did you know that first ball was coming your way?
Chris Bell: I've been knowing the whole week, I'm not going to lie. We had put this play in. It's called – yeah, we put this play in, but I knew the whole week. Me and the quarterback, we were talking about, you know, if he's pressed or if he's off, he's going to come to me in the boundary. So I've been knowing.
There's a couple plays. I think practice on Tuesday or Wednesday and then that play tonight where you got hit and kind of stayed on the ground for a second before getting up. What are those moments like as you are learning to trust your knee again and trust the physicality of the game after taking a hit like that?
Chris Bell: I trust my knee a lot. After taking that hit, it didn't really hurt. I was just laying there because I was a little tired. I'm not going to lie, and I haven't played football in eight months. So you know, I'm still trying to get in that football shape. But I needed it. You know, it was a welcome to the NFL. I needed it to break the ice. I needed to get tackled. I needed to have somebody put a shoulder on me, so it can make me get ready for the league.
Tell us about the 18-yard catch and what it meant for you to get on the scoresheet like that.
Chris Bell: It was a good catch. I know I would have scored that – I was just thinking about that safety. I was trying to drop my shoulder on the safety, but give me some time. When the season starts, I'll be scoring many, many of those.
What has been the key to returning before many thought you would?
Chris Bell: It really hasn't been no key. Like I've just been taking every day, one day at a time, taking it step by step, trusting in what the trainers got planned for me and the strength staff and the coaches. Every day I come and work. I put in the work. And at first the time the timeline was later, but how I just worked and kept improving, there was no reason to hold me back. So I was just trusting in God and just trusting in the plan that they have for me.
At the rate you're going, how ready do you think you'll be in two weeks?
Chris Bell: I'll be ready. I'm ready now, but I definitely will be ready in two weeks. I really needed this game, just to step out on the NFL field and play against some competition, other than my teammates in practice. So I 100 percent will be ready.
I think when we talked to you, like after you first got drafted, that you had a list of like, it was a ranking of all the receivers that were put ahead of you. I'm curious, you said that you had that as your background. Do you still have that as your background? And what sort of motivation do you take away from that?
Chris Bell: Oh yeah, of course I still have that. I still have that list of all those receivers that got drafted before me. I didn't know I was going to go that late, but it's all God's plan, like I said. And it means a lot to me. I've always been the underdog. I've always been the slept on guy. It's just another opportunity in my life and another thing in my life that I've got to prove myself. So I love that, you know, I love my back against the wall. I love when God puts a challenge in my life. I know I'm always going to come on the top because I know God got me.
Talk about how you build connections between Cam and some of the other quarterbacks in Miami's roster then leading into today? Maybe some of the conversations you had with Cam on the sidelines in between drives.
Chris Bell: Just going through our practice and routes on air, trying to get the timing down and things like that. That's how you build relationships and that's how I've been building my relationship with my quarterback. But on the sideline, me and Cam and the other quarterbacks in general, we all just told each other what we saw and if he see this, then he's going to throw it to me and things like that. So I'm just really trusting him and trying to get open for him and make a play for him, make a play for my team.
How big will it be to build that chemistry and camaraderie with Malik Willis in the next two weeks as today's action wasn't with him out there?
Chris Bell: Yeah, it'll be big, but it's just going to take time and I won't say we got time, but we do got time. Now that I'm practicing full speed and things like that and we can build that chemistry and I'm excited for it.
How much earlier do you think you may have been drafted had the knee injury not been a factor and is this comeback that you're on now maybe giving you the last laugh on teams that passed over you?
Chris Bell: Honestly, I was projected to go late first round, early second round. But like I said, I'm going to always put God and it was God's plan. His plan was to not have me at the top too early, and I think what I know, because it's always been like that in my life – start from the bottom because you know where I'm from, I always got it out the mud. I'm just happy to be a Dolphin and I'm ready to take on any challenges that come in front of me and I know I'm going to end up on top.
