MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Bayron Matos remained under observation at the Ryder Trauma Care Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital on Thursday, one day after he was transported there by helicopter from training camp with an undisclosed injury.
The Dolphins released a statement in which they said Matos “has movement in all extremities and is in stable condition,” but the team did not provide any other details of the 6-foot-7, 334-pounder’s injury. The team also did not say how long the 24-year-old Matos, who is from the Dominican Republic, would be under the care of doctors.
“It’s a really heartbreaking part of the game,” fellow Dolphins offensive lineman Austin Jackson said Wednesday regarding the injury, which occurred in the final minutes of the first day of training camp. “Very tough.”
The Santo Domingo native has a Chattanooga connection as a former high school basketball standout at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy.
Matos started playing football just a few years ago. He grew up playing baseball and basketball, and after moving to Tennessee for high school, he popped up on the radar of college hoops coaches. Matos wound up redshirting as a freshman at the University of New Mexico in the 2019-20 season before playing one season for the Lobos.
He then transferred to the University of South Florida, where he continued playing basketball and walked onto the football team during spring practice in 2022. According to his bio on the USF football website, “he had never had football pads or a helmet on before” his tryout with the Bulls.
He started off as a defensive lineman and special teams player at USF before moving to the offensive line, but his two appearances in Bulls games came on defense and special teams.
Matos was not selected in the 2024 NFL draft but signed with the Dolphins as a free agent through the league’s International Player Pathway Program, an initiative that gives athletes from countries outside the United States a chance to play in the world’s top football league.
Matos, who signed a reserve/future contract in January, had spent time with Miami’s practice squad over the past year.