Week Six of the 2016 season has come to an end, which means that players on the physically unable to perform and non-football injury lists are now eligible to begin practicing and/or playing with their teams.
The Dolphins have players on both lists and a couple of them will be rejoining the team on the field this week. Cornerback Chris Culliver has been on the PUP list since signing with the team in August due to the torn ACL he suffered last year, but is ready to resume football activities. Linebacker Zach Vigil, who has been on NFI with a back injury, will join him.
A return to practice opens a 21-day window to add them to the 53-man roster. Dolphins coach Adam Gase said a decision about whether that will happen will come later in the week.
“We’ll have to kind of go about our process, trainers, sports science, kind of that whole crew that we deal with, doctors and we’ll see where it ends up at the end of the week,” Gase said, via the team’s website. “We’re in no rush for anything. We just want to make sure those guys feel as good as they can before we actually activate anybody.”
The Dolphins host the Bills this Sunday and then have a bye in Week Eight, which may impact the timing of the next step for both players.
Defensive end Dion Jordan is also on the NFI list, but will not start practicing this week. A knee injury has kept him off the field since he was conditionally reinstated from suspension in late July.