Dolphins Make Moves; Cracraft Out for Detroit Game

The Miami Dolphins will be without wide receiver River Cracraft when they face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday.

Cracraft was added to the injury report Saturday with a neck injury and was ruled out.

The Dolphins also announced that cornerback Xavien Howard would travel to Detroit separately from the team because of personal reasons. The reason, according to a league source, was a death in the family.

Howard is one of six Dolphins players listed as questionable for the game against the Lions because of a groin injury.

THE DOLPHINS PRACTICE SQUAD ELEVATIONS

The Dolphins made their customary practice squad elevations Saturday, and they included safety Verone McKinley III and wide receiver Braylon Sanders.

The Sanders move certainly is interesting considering the Dolphins have five wide receivers on the active roster, including rookie fourth-round pick Erik Ezukanma, who has yet to appear in a game this season because of what wide receivers coach Wes Welker has suggested is a lack of full understanding of the offensive system.

Since Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, Trent Sherfield and Cedrick Wilson Jr. all are healthy and will play against Detroit, this would seem to suggest that Sanders will be active and Ezukanma will have to keep waiting to make his NFL debut.

As for McKinley, this was his third practice squad elevation, which suggests a move to the active roster could be forthcoming.

The rookie from Oregon, and college teammate of Jevon Holland, has very good ball skills and could get a decent amount of playing time on defense against Detroit now that starting safety Brandon Jones is on injured reserve after the torn ACL he sustained against the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday.

After putting Jones on IR this week, the Dolphins have two open spots on the 53-man roster. They will have to make a decision this week on offensive lineman Austin Jackson with his 21-day practice window coming to an end as to whether to activate him or keep him on IR for the rest of the season.

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