The Dolphins added three new players to the active roster Wednesday, and it just so happened that two of them were former University of Miami teammates.
Safety Adrian Colbert and defensive tackle Gerald Willis played together at UM in 2016 as transfers, Colbert from Texas and Willis from Florida.
They became the third and fourth University of Miami players on the active roster, along with wide receiver Allen Hurns and linebacker Trent Harris.
"Just knowing the place, knowing a lot of people here and knowing people in the locker room, it makes it easy," said Colbert, who was signed off the Seattle Seahawks practice squad. "It makes the transition easier and more comfortable for me.
"I haven't seen G (Willis) in a minute, but it's good seeing him out here. It's good seeing him, Trent and Allen — I didn't get to play with Allen but I know him. It's good being around those guys. Us Miami boys gotta stay together."
Willis, who promoted from the practice squad in his second stint on the unit, said he got support throughout his rookie season from his older brother, Washington Redskins safety Landon Collins.
"I knew it was going to work out," Willis said. "I've just always been positive. My brother, I talk to him every day. He's like, keep pushing, keep pushing. He always stays in my ear. That's a big positive for me."
Battling Baker
Parker was Mayfield's teammate at the University of Oklahoma from 2015-17.The Dolphins will get their first look at 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield on Sunday, but one player very familiar with him is safety Steven Parker.
"I can't wait," Parker said. "I can't wait to go against Bake. It's going to be a great challenge. I know he's going to be ready to go just like the rest of his team. But we're going to be ready to go as well."
While Mayfield was winning the Heisman in 2017, Parker was a second-team All-Big 12 selection that year.
The two had their share of battles in practice.
"There was always a little battle in practice, but at the end of the day this is the NFL and there's no friends, there's no buddies out there," Parker said. "You gotta go out there and play 60 minutes."
Shula recognition
As part of the NFL's 100th anniversary celebration, the NFL is putting together an NFL 100 All-Time Team.
On Wednesday, the league announced the 20 finalists to be among the 10 coaches selected to the team, and not surprisingly Dolphins Hall of Famer Don Shula was among the group.
The 10 coaches on the NFL 100 All-Time Team will be unveiled over the first five episodes of the series, which premiers this Friday at 8 p.m. on NFL Network.
Shula, who coached the Dolphins from 1970-95, is the winningest coach in NFL history and he guided the franchise to the only perfect season in league history in 1972 and a repeat Super Bowl title in 1973.
The other coaching finalists are, in alphabetical order, Bill Belichick, Paul Brown, Guy Chamberlin, Tony Dungy, Weeb Eubank, Joe Gibbs, Sid Gillman, Bud Grant, George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Tom Landry, Marv Levy, Vince Lombardi, John Madden, Chuck Noll, Steve Owen, Bill Parcells, Fritz Pollard and Bill Walsh.
Injury report
For the first time since Week 6, when the Dolphins were preparing to face the Washington Redskins, the team had every player on the active roster take part in practice Wednesday.
Cornerback Ken Webster was limited in his first practice since sustaining an ankle injury in the game at Pittsburgh on Oct. 28.
Others limited Wednesday were DE Taco Charlton (elbow), T Julién Davenport (knee), QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (shoulder/forearm) and LB Raekwon McMillan (knee). Charlton and McMillan both sat out the game against Buffalo this past Sunday.
The Dolphins had six players listed as full participants in practice: LB Sam Eguavoen (thumb), WR Jakeem Grant (Achilles), RB Patrick Laird (foot), CB Eric Rowe (hip), LB Andrew Van Ginkel (foot) and WR Albert Wilson (hip).
