The Miami Dolphins appeared poised to offer their young quarterback Tua Tagovailoa his full set of pass catchers and simultaneously welcome WR Will Fuller into the starting lineup for the first time as a Dolphin on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. But that will not be the case after all — because head coach Brian Flores revealed this morning that Will Fuller will not be available to the team at all on Sunday against the Bills; he’s dealing with a personal issue and is out for the contest.
Will Fuller will NOT play Sunday with a personal issue, coach Brian Flores said.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) September 17, 2021
This is obviously a massive surprise for Fuller, who signed a 1-year deal with the Dolphins to bet on himself in free agency this spring and had just finished serving the final game of a 6-game suspension served by the league office midway through the 2020 regular season, Fuller’s final season in Houston. And while the football implications for Miami is significant, the bigger picture here is that there is clearly a major private matter that Fuller is dealing with — and hopefully a happy resolution awaits him and anyone else directly impacted by this private issue.
Whether or not there is added clarity on the situation in the immediate future is in doubt — as Flores typically holds private discussions and issues with his players close to the vest and is not quickly to talk about personal matters to the press.
And so the Dolphins must plan to work without Fuller into the future until a point in which Fuller is ready to return to the game; but the uncertainty of when that may be can’t be a good feeling for the Dolphins none the less.
