Can Odell Beckham Jr., who finally got cleared to practice, enhance Dolphins offense?

MIAMI — Is Odell Beckham Jr. coming to the Miami Dolphins’ rescue?

The former three-time Pro Bowl receiver will participate in his first practice with the team Wednesday according to head coach Mike McDaniel, beginning his three-week window to work with the team while coming off the Physically Unable to Perform list.

Beckham, a 10-year veteran who has battled knee injuries for the past few seasons, had a procedure done earlier this year that has been slow to heal. The Dolphins placed him on the PUP list to start camp, and kept him there for the first month of the season to give his body extra time to heal.

Beckham has been impatiently waiting for his practice window to open, and that day will arrive on Wednesday for him and second-year cornerback Cam Smith, who was placed on injured reserve last month because of a hamstring injury that slowed him during training camp.

It’s possible Beckham could become one of the missing pieces for Miami’s stagnant offense, which is last in points scored (11.3 per game) on the season and ranked 26th in total yards (285.0) per game, if he can prove he’s mastered the playbook.

Miami’s passing game has struggled this season, especially in the absence of Tua Tagovailoa, who is sidelined at least another two games because of the concussion he sustained in Week 2, which got the quarterback placed on injured reserve.

During the offseason program Tagovailoa openly expressed concern that he hasn’t developed any chemistry with Beckham, who has started 97 NFL games.

Coincidentally, the 31-year-old receiver has some chemistry with Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, who will start his second game for the Dolphins next week, because they played together in Baltimore last season.

If cleared to play in Sunday’s road game against the New England Ptriots Beckham will join a receiving group that features Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as the primary targets, and compete with Braxton Berrios, rookie Malik Washington and practice squad players Dee Eskridge and Erik Ezukanma for the No. 3 role.

That’s the role Miami signed him to an incentive laden one-year deal to fill.

The Dolphins need a possession receiver who can masquerade as a between-the-hashes target, and that’s exactly the role Beckham played last season for the Ravens, contributing 565 receiving yards and three touchdowns on the 35 receptions he pulled down in 16 games.

He was a 1,000-yard receiver five times in his nine seasons, but has spent the majority of the past seven years battling through serious injuries, and fighting off rust.

Beckham, who has 566 career receptions for 7,932 yards and 60 touchdowns, will be given every opportunity to prove he’s ready to contribute to Miami’s offense this week in practice. But his status will likely be determined by how well he performs.

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