The Miami Dolphins had to place Malik Willis and Zach Sieler on injured reserve. As a result, roster spots opened up on the 53-man roster. The Dolphins made a couple of moves to shore up some depth.
On Wednesday, Jeff Hafley met with the press and informed them that they had re-signed defensive tackle Keith Cooper Jr., who had made a positive impact on the coaching staff and teammates. Hafley said they are looking forward to seeing him get back to work.
That's the good news, the bad news is Miami opted to not move on from kicker Zane Gonzalez.
Miami Dolphins head coach says Zane Gonzalez is the team's kicker
The Dolphins' opting not to swap Gonzalez is a bit troubling, unless you are under the impression that the worst players give Miami the best chance to lose games. Gonzalez hasn't been consistent this year and has only played a handful of games. Considering Riley Patterson was replaced for similar stat lines, it's fair to wonder what the reason is for why no competition is being brought in.
Patterson played in the first five games and went 7 of 9 with a long of 41, missing once from inside 50 yards and once outside of 50. Gonzalez, in three games, has gone 5 of 7, with both of his misses coming inside of 50, including one inside of 40. Hafley told the media that despite another round of kicker tryouts on Tuesday, Gonzalez was going to remain the kicker.
It seems his familiarity with special teams coordinator Chris Tabor is getting him the nod.
Miami also worked out several quarterbacks this past week, but has not decided whether or not to add another veteran to the roster. Miami will start Kyle McCord for his first NFL action against the Colts, with backup Brady Cook serving as QB2. There is no emergency 3rd QB on the roster.
Cook has four starts to his NFL resume. The undrafted QB was signed by the Jets last year and appeared in five games, going 0-4 as a starter. His seven interceptions to just two touchdowns are quite impressively bad.
Back to Cooper, the Dolphins got good looks from the DT in camp, but he was released due to the numbers crunch. Cooper had been on the Carolina Panthers' practice squad this year. Hafley wouldn't say that Cooper will be active this week, but he did say that he was hoping to see him compete for playing time.
The Dolphins will face the Colts in Week 10 before heading back to Hard Rock Stadium for two back-to-back divisional games, including the Jets in Week 12.
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