Dolphins wide receiver Brian Hartline was absent for the majority of OTA and minicamp practices due to what was at one point believed to be a strained calf.
But according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Hartline missed spring workouts because he was recovering from an appendectomy. Hartline is expected to be “fine” for training camp.
Hartline quietly could be headed toward a breakout season entering his fourth year in the league. The 25-year-old is in a contract year and, on paper, the Dolphins project to field perhaps the NFL’s poorest wide receiver corps. Hartline could emerge as the cream of that crop.
It sounds like the appendectomy will only be a speed bump in the way of Hartline putting up career-best stats in 2012.