Bayron Matos, a former University of South Florida football and basketball player now with the Miami Dolphins, suffered an undisclosed injury at the end of Wednesday's practice and was flown to a hospital on a helicopter.
The injury happened when he collided with a teammate in the final minutes of Day 1 of the Dolphins' training camp . Matos, a second-year offensive tackle, was in stable condition, the team said.
On Thursday, Matos remained under observation at the Ryder Trauma Care Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The Dolphins said in a statement that Matos “has movement in all extremities and is in stable condition,” but they did not provide any other details of his injury. The team also did not say how long Matos would be under the care of doctors.
Matos' agent told The Miami Herald on Wednesday night the player “has an above the shoulder type injury” but it wasn’t certain whether it involved his neck, spine or something else. He said Matos has “some movement but not full movement in his right leg. It comes and goes.”
Matos, 24, only started playing football in 2022, when walked on at USF in 2022. He played sparingly in two games for the Bulls on special teams and the defensive line. He worked at both defensive and offensive line during the season.
The 6-foot-7 Matos had transferred from the University of New Mexico in 2021 to play basketball. He was in 28 games and made four starts for the Bulls during the 2021-22 season, averaging 1.5 points and 2.7 rebounds while averaging 10.6 minutes per game.
Matos, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, went undrafted in 2024 but signed with the Dolphins as a free agent through the NFL's International Player Pathway Program — an initiative that gives athletes from countries outside the U.S. a chance to play in the NFL.
He spent time on the Dolphins' practice squad over the past year before signing a reserve/future contract in January. He has not played in a regular-season NFL game.
“It's a really heartbreaking part of the game,” Dolphins offensive lineman Austin Jackson said. “Very tough.”
Matos was a two-sport athlete in basketball and baseball in his youth.
