Dolphins Notebook: Fuller, Fitzpatrick, Saban and More

Will Fuller V officially is ready to make his Miami Dolphins debut.

The speedy wide receiver was removed from the NFL's Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner list Monday after serving the final game of a six-game suspension he was assessed last season for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.

Fuller sat out the Dolphins' 17-16 victory against New England at Gillette Stadium after sitting out the final five Houston Texans games last season.

Fuller joined the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent in March when he signed a one-year contract.

Head coach Brian Flores said Monday it was too early to determine how Fuller would fit into the offense.

“We didn’t have Will last week," Flores said. "He missed some time in training camp. We really only had him for, I would say, a handful of practices. We’ll work him in and see how to best utilize him in the offense and see how things go during practice this week. I think we got a lot of guys in that room. We will see how practice goes this week and take it from there.”

FITTING FULLER ON THE ROSTER

The Dolphins didn't have to make a corresponding move to accommodate Fuller on the active roster because they were at 52 players once defensive back Jamal Perry reverted back to the practice squad after being elevated as a COVID-19 replacement last week.

Of course, that will change once tight end Adam Shaheen comes off the COVID-19 list, which could happen sometime this week.

Fuller's return gives the Dolphins seven wide receivers on the active roster, which is an unusually high number (though it's happened before).

To make room for Perry's return to the practice squad, the Dolphins released fullback/tight end Carl Tucker from that group. He's a rookie free agent who was among the cuts to the 53-player limit Aug. 31.

As a reminder, the rest of the practice squad includes CB Javaris Davis, RB Gerrid Doaks, LB Milo Eifler, WR Isaiah Ford, LB Shaquem Griffin, T Bobby Hart, DT Benito Jones, RB Patrick Laird, WR Kirk Merritt, LB Calvin Munson, WR Brandon Powell, G Durval Queiroz Neto, DE Jabaal Sheard, QB Reid Sinnett, T Kion Smith and C Cameron Tom.

The Dolphins have 17 players on their practice squad because of Queiroz's exemption as an international player.

SABAN STORY

The NFL Network announced the return of its "Football Life" series, and the first episode of the season will feature none other than Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who had a two-year stint as an NFL head coach with the Miami Dolphins.

It obviously will be interesting to see how much time the episode, which premieres Friday at 9 p.m. ET, will devote to Saban's time in Miami, which wasn't entirely smooth — to say the least.

The other episodes for this season will feature James Harrison (Sept. 24), Calvin Johnson (Oct. 1), Drew Pearson (Dec. 3) and John Lynch (Dec. 24).

TOUGH BREAK FOR FITZ

Former Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's season might have come to an end barely after it started.

After making his first start for the Washington Football Team on Sunday, Fitzpatrick is headed to injured reserve after sustaining a significant hip injury.

Fitzpatrick, who started 20 games for the Dolphins the past two seasons, is expected to miss 6-8 weeks because of the injury.