If Dolphins WR Jabar Gaffney wants to play in his first game with the team Sunday against the Jets, he has to have a good practice Wednesday.
The recent free-agent acquisition was inactive in wins over the Bengals and Rams before last week’s bye. However, the former Redskins standout could provide a big boost to the team’s passing game if he has established a connection with rookie QB Ryan Tannehill and digested the team’s playbook.
And offensive coordinator Mike Sherman said he would take a close look at Gaffney's growth Wednesday.
"I think any time you sign somebody, there’s always an urgency to get him to move forward," Sherman said. "Gaffney’s been in this league for a while and has some success, obviously. That’s why he’s here."
Sherman also said the recent play of WR Marlon Moore had complicated the issue. The special-teams ace has performed well as the No. 3 receiver after entrenched starters Brian Hartline and Davone Bess. He caught three passes for a team-high 46 yards with a touchdown in the win over St. Louis.
“Moore plays a fair amount of special-teams snaps as well,” Sherman said. “He can get gassed up pretty good, so we definitely have to push forward and move Gaffney ahead of the learning curve. I think he’s getting there. I thought his last practice before we broke was probably the best practice. He looked like he was more comfortable with what we’re doing and then again today he looked a lot more comfortable.”
Moving and shaking: Miami has made several roster moves as the team prepares for New York on Sunday.
The Dolphins activated RB Jonas Gray from the physically-unable-to-perform list Monday, and the team has three weeks to decide whether to keep him on the 53-man roster or release him. The rookie from Notre Dame had spent nearly a year rehabbing a torn knee ligament. Miami has five running backs on the active roster, and Gray would have to clear waivers before the team could add him to the practice squad.
Even then, the eight-man reserve unit is currently filled.
But the Dolphins have shown great flexibility at the end of their roster. Miami has worked out four undrafted rookies the last two months that failed to stick with other teams: TEs Chase Ford (Eagles) and Dominique Jones (Colts) and DBs Chyl Quarles (Patriots) and Sean Baker (Buccaneers).
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