The Miami Dolphins will clash with the New York Jets tomorrow afternoon in northern New Jersey and hope to climb back up the AFC playoff rankings with a potential second win over the Jets to complete the season sweep of the AFC East cellar dweller. But in order to secure the win, the Dolphins are going to have to prove their resiliency all over again — because the injury report clearly illustrates that Miami is not going to have a cut and dry game plan and path to success.
Miami’s final injury report lists two players as out for the Dolphins — running back Salvon Ahmed and offensive guard Solomon Kindley. Neither practiced at all this past week and as a result will not be available to the Dolphins as they search for win No. 7 on the season.
But that is really just the tip of the iceberg. The Dolphins also have a quarterback issue on their hands this week as rookie starter Tua Tagovailoa was placed on the injury report this week for a reported incident in practice that had Tagovailoa smacking his thumb against a helmet. He’s been a limited participant all week long and there does appear to be some uncertainty on what his status and availability will be for Miami tomorrow. He’s listed as questionable.
Also questionable? Wide receiver Jakeem Grant, who was a limited participant all week with a hamstring issue. Grant has been a promising player for the Dolphins for several seasons but can’t quite seem to stay durable enough to command a large role within the offense. If Grant misses time with the hamstring issue, the Dolphins may be forced to ask themselves some hard questions about Grant’s ceiling as a player.
But for now, Miami can still hope to have Tagovailoa and Grant on the field on Sunday as they look to rebound offensively from a poor performance in Week 11 against the Broncos. And if the Dolphins must make a quarterback change due to Tagovailoa’s thumb injury, then this is why keeping Ryan Fitzpatrick always made the most sense for this team. Miami’s 1-2 punch at quarterback is among the tops in the league when you consider the long-term promise of Tagovailoa and the savvy experience and ability of Fitzpatrick to step in at any given point.
We’ll see if Miami needs to make the call to the bullpen in Week 12. If they do, it won’t spell doom for the Dolphins.