Dolphins Busy With Moves Before Buffalo Game
The Miami Dolphins roster went through some shuffling on the day the team headed to Buffalo for its all-important season finale against the Bills.
After announcing that linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill would not accompany the team on its flight because of illness (not COVID-related), the Dolphins announced a series of roster moves later in the afternoon.
The most significant involved signing practice squad safety Nate Holley to the active roster and waiving second-year fullback Chandler Cox.
The team also elevated wide receiver Marcus Kemp and quarterback Reid Sinnett from the practice squad.
The last move indicates the Dolphins are likely to have three active quarterbacks against Buffalo, with Jake Rudock also on hand to serve as backup to rookie first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins, of course, won't have the services of veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday.
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The addition of Holley was made with special teams in mind, particularly in light of Grugier-Hill's unexpected absence. Holley played a combined 24 snaps, all on special teams in two appearances against the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs in December.
Grugier-Hill is the second linebacker the Dolphins have lost this week — Elandon Roberts was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury — though the impact of his absence on defense shouldn't be overstated Grugier-Hill played a total of nine defensive snaps over the past seven games, outside of the Kansas City game when he had 37 defensive snaps.
Kemp recently joined the practice squad after playing 10 games with the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this season. He's also got considerable special teams experience and could be used in that role against Buffalo.
The Dolphins will have eight wide receivers with them in Buffalo, though DeVante Parker (hamstring) and Jakeem Grant (ankle) both were listed as questionable on the final injury report.
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Besides Parker, Grant and Kemp, the other wide receivers who made the trip to Buffalo are Lynn Bowden Jr., Mack Hollins, Malcolm Perry, Isaiah Ford and practice squad elevation Kirk Merritt.
The release of Cox shouldn't be viewed as a major surprise, even though he was a seventh-round draft pick in 2019, considering his dwindling playing time in recent weeks.
Cox was inactive for seven of the past nine games, including each of the past three.
