Dolphins vs. Bills 2021 Week 8: Laird promoted, Biegel, Perry elevated; Williams, Redwine stay home

The Miami Dolphins had a busy Saturday, with several roster moves announced ahead of the team’s game on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. The team promoted running back Patrick Laird from the practice squad, signing him to the 53-man roster. They also elevated Vince Biegel and Jamal Perry for the game, using the league’s temporary elevation rule for practice squad players. Biegel, who signed with the Dolphins 11 days ago, was elevated for the first time this season while Perry has now been elevated twice, reaching the annual limit of elevations.

Perry was also a COVID-19 replacement once this season.

The more interesting event on the day, however, was the team announcing wide receiver Preston Williams and defensive back Sheldrick Redwine both did not travel with the team to Buffalo. Neither player was on the injury report for the week, but both have now been ruled out of the game.

Redwine makes some sense. He was poached off the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad five days ago. That is a quick turnaround to expect a player to be ready with all of the team’s calls and coverages. If he had traveled, he likely would have been inactive or seen limited snaps on defense.

Williams, however, is a surprise. The Dolphins have had depth issues at the wide receiver position, and Williams appears to be healthy. The team did not make any reserve/COVID-19 list moves, so this would appear to be a coach’s decision to not bring Williams with the team. For a player with a ton of potential, Williams just cannot seem to get any momentum going for his career.

Laird signed with Miami as an undrafted free agent in 2019 out of California. In his first two seasons, he has appeared in 31 games with four starts, carrying the ball 75 times for 240 yards (3.2 yards per attempt) with a touchdown. He has also caught 33 passes for 272 yards. He was with the team through the preseason this year, then was released as a part of the final round of roster cuts before signing to Miami’s practice squad.

Biegel was selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin by the Green Bay Packers. He was waived at the end of the 2018 preseason, signing with the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad, then being promoted to the active roster three weeks into the season. He was traded from New Orleans to the Dolphins as part of a trade that sent Kiko Alonso from Miami to the Saints in September 2019. He sustained a torn Achilles tendon during the 2020 preseason, ending his year. He was placed on injured reserve again in 2021 by the Dolphins, then was released with an injury settlement at the beginning of September. He signed back to the practice squad on October 19. He has appeared in 38 games in his career, 15 of which came with the Dolphins and 10 of those were starts. He has 79 career tackles with one interception and 2.5 sacks.

Perry was undrafted out of Iowa State in 2017, signing originally with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was waived as a part of the final roster cuts that year, then signed with the New England Patriots’ practice squad. He spent the 2018 preseason with New England before again being signed to the practice squad. In 2019, he signed with the Dolphins, making his regular-season debut that season. Through Week 7 of this year, he has appeared in 29 games with seven starts in his career, all with Miami, recording 86 tackles and an interception. He played in Weeks 1 and 2 this year, but only appeared on special teams.

The Dolphins and Bills kickoff at 1pm ET on Sunday from Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium.