Dolphins Notebook: Ford Back Up, Ahmed Up for Award, Kamu's Case, and More
Wide receiver Isaiah Ford obviously did enough in his return to the Miami Dolphins lineup to earn another look.
The Dolphins announced Tuesday that Ford would be elevated from the practice squad for the Week 16 game against the Las Vegas Raiders as a COVID-19 replacement.
Ford had three catches for 18 yards in the 22-12 victory against New England in his first game with the Dolphins since returning following his Nov. 3 trade to those same Patriots.
With Ford, the Dolphins have six wide receivers on the roster, though DeVante Parker and Jakeem Grant both are nursing hamstring injuries that caused them to miss the New England game.
RELATED: The First Dolphins-Raiders Injury Report and What It Means
MORE PRACTICE SQUAD MOVES
The move involving Ford was part of a busy day related to the practice squad.
The Dolphins signed wide receiver Marcus Kemp to the practice squad Thursday, then proceeded to make him one of their four poaching protections.
The other practice squad players protected from poaching have been regulars for this: tight end Chris Myarick, quarterback Reid Sinnett and long-snapper Rex Sunahara.
Kemp caught two passes for 27 games over three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his last game with that team was Dec. 13 — against the Dolphins.
AHMED UP FOR AWARD
After Tua Tagovailoa's back-to-back Pepsi Zero Sugar NFL Rookie of the Week awards, running back Salvon Ahmed will try to make it three in a row for the Dolphins.
Ahmed was one of the five players nominated for the award for his Week 15 performance when he rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown in the 22-12 victory against New England.
The other four nominees this week are Eagles quarterback (and Tagovailoa's former Alabama teammate) Jalen Hurts, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Chiefs cornerback L'Jarius Reed.
Fans can vote for the award at https://www.nfl.com/voting/rookies/. The winner will be announced later in the week.
KAMU COMES FORWARD
Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill has taken to Instagram to plead his case that his reception from Matt Haack out of punt formation should not have been nullified because he failed to report as an eligible receiver.
Grugier-Hill posted a picture of his 14-yard reception on fourth-and-7 from the New England 44-yard line that was called back after he was penalized for an illegal touch and being an ineligible man downfield.
"I reported," Grugier-Hill wrote on Instagram, accompanied by the exasperated emoji.
Tagovailoa replied, "Nice grab tho!" while his teammates on the punt team backed his story.
Bobby McCain, Brandon Jones, Kavon Frazier and Blake Ferguson all backed Grugier-Hill's claim. "I'm a witness!" Frazier posted.
NO TUA TRASH TALKING
With Alabama set to face Notre Dame in one of the college football national semifinals, one would think former Irish tight Durham Smythe would love to talk a little trash to the most famous Crimson Tide alum on the team, Tagovailoa.
He would, but there's one problem.
“It’s funny, I try to talk a lot of trash to guys throughout the year when there is a matchup, Notre Dame and whoever," Smythe said. "But it’s kind of hard to talk trash to Tua because he’s such a nice guy when it comes to things like that. He’s come up to me already and said, ‘It’s going to be a great game. It should be a lot of fun to watch.’ It’s hard to say stuff to him, but it is fun that we have a little connection there.”
THIS AND THAT
-- Former Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen is going back on an NFL active roster. Rosen officially terminated his practice squad contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday amid reports he was going to be signing with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers were down to one healthy quarterback (C.J. Beathard) before they placed quarterback Josh Johnson on the practice squad COVID-19 list, so Rosen will serve as Beathard's backup for the game against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.
-- The three finalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given by the Maxwell Football Club to the best defensive player in college football, were announced Tuesday and one of them is Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II. His father, of course, was the three-time Pro Bowl cornerback for the Dolphins in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The young Surtain is a junior but is expected to be a first-round pick (maybe even a top 10 selection) if he decides to declare for the 2021 draft.
-- Jim Caldwell, who was slated to be assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach for the Dolphins in 2019 before he took a leave of absence, has interviewed to become head coach of the Houston Texans. Caldwell, of course, has previous head-coaching experience with the Indianapolis Colts and the Detroit Lions.
