Miami Dolphins' Dion Jordan slowed by knee injury

The Miami Dolphins placed defensive end Dion Jordan on the active/non-football injury list (NFI) on Sunday, meaning he will at least miss the first few weeks of training camp.

Jordan, hoping to redeem himself after two suspensions for violating the NFL's substances-abuse policy, recently underwent minor knee surgery that will prevent the former No. 3 overall pick from passing a physical for a few weeks.

Jordan was injured during a private workout, and the team was not aware of it until recently.

"Him coming in here, that (injury) was news to us," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said.

Jordan was banned from the Dolphins' facility all of last season and was just granted conditional reinstatement on Friday from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"When you don't have contact with somebody for as long as we did, you don't know every little detail of what's going on," Gase said. "So (placing him on the NFI list) was the decision that we had to make, and we'll see how everything goes moving forward."

Jordan hasn't played an NFL game since December 2014.

"It was tough," Jordan said. "All of it was tough, I feel, being away from the game the whole year. But I knew I wanted to come back and I wanted to prove to myself first and foremost, and other people in this organization that I can be a big factor once I get out here. So I just put my mind to it. I trained real hard and I'm here."

Jordan, who has 46 tackles, three sacks and three pass deflections in 26 career regular-season games, is relishing the chance to get back on the field, whenever that may be.

"Once I get out here and I have a chance to compete with these fellas, I'm going to use everything that I've learned since I've been out to help the young players and myself moving forward," he said.

Jordan is expected to be ready for the team's Sept. 11 season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.

Also Sunday, the Dolphins activated veteran running back Arian Foster from the physically unable to perform list. The Houston Texans' all-time leading rusher is coming off a season-ending Achilles tendon injury.

Foster, 29, is expected to compete with Jay Ajayi for playing time, and given his experience as a ball carrier and receiver, he should have the upper hand if he is healthy.

"It was a pretty routine training camp day -- run the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball," Foster said after the first practice with his new team on Sunday.

He also said he is learning up the Dolphins' offense after spending the first eight seasons of his NFL career in Houston.

"I'm getting it down," Foster said. "It's going to take a little time getting reps, getting acclimated to the terminology and getting used to the cadences and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, football is football, so I'll pick it up."

In a minor transaction Sunday, the Dolphins signed cornerback Brandon Harris and waived cornerback Tyler Patmon.