Tough Timing on Practice Squad Loss

Maybe there's never a good time to have a player poached from the practice squad, but regardless the time of safety John Saunders Jr. leaving the Miami Dolphins really is less than ideal.

Saunders will be signed to the New England Patriots' 53-man roster in the aftermath of the team trading former starter Kyle Dugger to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, according to ESPN reporter Mike Reiss. Reiss had a pre-draft visit with New England, though he went undrafted before signing with the Dolphins as a rookie free agent.

The problem for the Dolphins is that Saunders was the only safety on the practice squad, and there certainly was a chance Miami could need help at the position for their game against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.

The Dolphins have five safeties on their active roster, excluding first-year player Jordan Colbert after LB coach Joe Barry revealed a couple of weeks ago that Colbert had been working with his group for most of the year.

The problem is that all five of those safeties are on the Dolphins injury report this week, with starter Ashtyn Davis estimated (because the Dolphins didn't practice Monday and had only a walk-through Tuesday) as DNP for the first two days and Ifeatu Melifonwu estimated as a limited participant.

While they all were estimated as full participants the past two days, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Elijah Campbell and rookie Dante Trader Jr. all are dealing with some kind of issue, with Campbell missing the past three games with a quad injury.

Fitzpatrick, Davis and Melifonwu all had injuries reported in the press box during the 34-10 victory against the Atlanta Falcons, with Melifonwu the only one of the three who finished the game, though head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that Fitzpatrick could have finished had the outcome been in doubt.

SIZING UP SAUNDERS

A rookie from Mississippi, Saunders was one of the Dolphins' most impressive undrafted rookie free agents in training camp, thought he was fighting a losing battle to try to make the 53-man roster from the start where only an injury would have cleared the way.

Really, there was little doubt all along the Dolphins were going to keep Fitzpatrick (obviously), Davis and Melifonwu after they were signed in free agency this spring, Campbell as a core special teams contributor, and Trader as a rookie fifth-round pick.

Saunders, though, flashed a nose for the ball in training camp and in the preseason, highlighted by his interception in the preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium.

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