The Miami Dolphins were dealt a heavy blow in their hopes to run their winning streak to 5 consecutive games earlier this week when the team was forced to place WR Matt Cole, LB Kyle Van Noy and DT Christian Wilkins on the reserve/COVID-19 list due to either positive COVID-19 tests or due to contact tracing that placed the players in close contact with someone who has recently tested positive for the virus.
But the whispers throughout the rest of the week have seemed to indicate that at least one of Miami’s players had an outside chance of being cleared of a potential positive case in time to play in Sunday’s Week 10 clash against the Los Angeles Chargers. Thanks to reports that pegged Van Noy as a player flagged for just contact tracing, the clues seemed to indicate that indeed Van Noy was Miami’s hopeful to be cleared for Sunday.
The Dolphins and Van Noy must have caught the break they were hoping for — because the Dolphins announced just moments ahead of the Saturday deadline this afternoon that Van Noy was indeed being removed from the reserve/COVID-19 list and would be eligible to play tomorrow against the Chargers.
We have activated LB Kyle Van Noy off the reserve/COVID-19 list and elevated WR Antonio Callaway to the active roster for Sunday’s game.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) November 14, 2020
Miami will still be without Wilkins for this contest, as the Dolphins announced no change in his status ahead of the 4PM EST deadline this afternoon. But getting even one of the two high-end starters back to square off against the Chargers should be seen as a win for Miami — the Dolphins can divvy up Wilkins’ snaps between Zach Sieler, Raekwon Davis and defensive end Shaq Lawson and presumably only have a handful of snaps left over that would need to go to rookie defensive tackle Benito Jones or rookie defensive lineman Jason Strowbridge.
Miami’s grappling of the virus will provide an interruption for the second consecutive week thanks to the absence of Wilkins and several assistant coaches. But the direct impact of Miami’s Week 10 game plan has been halved as Van Noy cleared the league’s extensive COVID-19 protocols just in the nick of time.