Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle set to play against Bills
The Miami Dolphins will have the offense’s full arsenal of weapons for Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
Jaylen Waddle, a five-year starter for the Dolphins, intends to play despite the shoulder injury he initially injured in the season-opening 33-8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and Jaylen Wright, who began camp as the team’s No. 2 tailback, is listed as active for the nationally televised game.
Wright suffered a right knee injury that required a surgical procedure last month during Miami’s joint practice against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and missed the past two games while he recovered. He’s expected to play a limited role backing up De’Von Achane and possible Ollie Gordon II, the rookie whose status got elevated because of Wright’s absence.
This is the first game of 2025 the Dolphins didn’t promote Jeff Wilson up from the practice squad, preserving his third and final elevation up from the developmental unit.
Instead, Miami elevated safety Jordan Colbert, who will likely contribute on special teams against the Bills because a few other safeties will play more prominent roles on defense. Ifeatu Melifonwu, who started the first two games as the safety paired with Minkah Fitzpatrick, was made inactive because of the calf he suffered last week.
Expect Ashtyn Davis, Elijah Campbell and rookie Dante Trader Jr. to handle more prominent roles in the Dolphins secondary because of Melifonwu’s absence.
Each NFL team is only allowed to elevate two players up from the practice squad and kicker Riley Patterson is the other. This will be Patterson’s final elevation, which was needed because kicker Jason Sanders began the season on injured reserve due to a hip injury.
Players placed on injured reserve must miss four games so Patterson must be signed to the 53-man roster, or the Dolphins must add a new kicker before next week’s Monday Night Football game against the New York Jets.
Along with Waddle and Wright, the Dolphins will also benefit from the presence of nose tackle Benito Jones, who missed last week’s game against the New England Patriots because of an oblique injury.
Jones, who is entering his second season as a starter for the Dolphins, serves as the anchor of Miami’s 3-4 defensive front because he’s one of Miami’s best run defenders. His elevation means rookie defensive tackle Zeek Biggers is inactive for the Bills games.
Also inactive is cornerback Juju Brents and Storm Duck, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Ethan Bonner, who suffered an hamstring injury in the exhibition season, is active for his first game of 2025.
Tight end Darren Waller is inactive for the third straight game, limited by the hip injury he suffered the first week of the regular season, and so is receiver Tahj Washington. Quarterback Quinn Ewers will dress, but served as the emergency quarterback, which means he’s only eligible play play if Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson are sidelined by injury.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM.
