Fan video shows Nik Needham doing drills, how close are the Miami Dolphins to getting him back?

In 2022, the injury bug hit the Miami Dolphins secondary hard and Nik Needham, who was starting outside for the injured Byron Jones got bit so hard he missed the season and the start of 2023.

Needham is listed on the Reserve/Physically unable to perform list and has been since the start of the season. He did not participate in off-season work or in training camp as he continued to rehab from last year's Achille's injury.

As October approaches, so does the date of Needham's injury. He tore his Achilles on October 16th against the Vikings. Now, he may be getting closer to returning to the field.

A Dolphins fan who attended the Dolphins game against the Patriots captured some great pre-game video of Needham running a drill on the field.

It's great to see Needham getting out and doing drills and this is a good sign that he may be back in action soon for the Dolphins who could use the depth at corner.

For Needham, he won't be able to return until after week four at the earliest. League rules prohibit teams from activating reserve/pup players who are designated as such on final roster cuts to sit out four weeks minimum.

Once Needham hits the four week/game mark he will be eligible to return immediately should the Dolphins want to activate him. Miami could remove him from the reserve/put list and Miami will not have to make a roster move until he is added to the 53.

By league rules, Miami has 21 days from the time he is removed from the PuP list to be added to the 53. After 21 days if he is not added to the 53, he will revert back to the reserve list for the remainder of the season.