Wake a full participant at practice

Miami Dolphins pass rusher Cameron Wake has only missed two games against the New England Patriots during his 10-year NFL career, and the odds of that total growing to three are slim.

Wake, who missed Wednesday’s practice because of a knee injury he’s been nursing for the past couple weeks, returned to practice on Thursday, and was a full participant.

Wake’s presence in the game is critical because Miami’s already lost two defensive ends — William Hayes and Andre Branch — to knee injuries.

Hayes suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Sunday’s 28-20 win against the Oakland Raiders, and Branch injured his left knee and will be sidelined a couple weeks.

The Dolphins called up Jonathan Woodard, a firstyear player from Central Arkansas, from the practice squad because of the injuries.

Woodard will likely join Wake, Robert Quinn and Charles Harris, the Dolphins’ 2017 first-round pick, as the four defensive ends who rotate in and out of Sunday’s game against the Patriots.

“Those guys have conditioned and trained themselves and created an environment to do it, to where they can go more snaps, especially in cooler weather,” coach Adam Gase said about the shrunken playing rotation on the defensive front. “I don’t think you’re going to have many players complain about playing more plays.”

Wake, a five-time Pro Bowl pick, has contributed nine tackles and one sack in the three games he’s played this season. Jones participates in all of Thursday’s session: The Dolphins should be getting back Pro Bowl safety Reshad Jones for Sunday’s game against New England.

Jones sat out last week’s game against Oakland because of a shoulder injury he hurt the prior week. Jones had his practice participation limited on Wednesday, but was a full participant during the Thursday session.

Jones’ return would allow the Dolphins to move Minkah Fitzpatrick back to the nickel cornerback spot he played his first two games at….

Held out of Thursday’s practice were linebacker Chase Allen (foot) and tight end A.J. Derby (foot), whose absence will likely force the Dolphins to lean on inexperienced players.

Derby’s absence likely means rookie tight ends Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe will play the bulk of the Patriots game.

The Dolphins signed veteran linebacker Martrell Spaight to address Allen’s injury….

Tailback Frank Gore sat out Thursday’s practice, but that’s his usual routine…. Offensive tackle Sam Young, the team’s top backup on the offensive line, is nursing a shoulder injury. But he was a full participant on Thursday.