The good news for the New York Jets entering their Week 12 AFC clash with the Miami Dolphins? Young quarterback Sam Darnold is a limited participant in practice after missing time with a throwing shoulder injury — a potential boost to a Jets team that has found points easier to come by in recent weeks but still has yet to find their way back into the win column.
The bad news for the Jets? The team has other injuries that will reshape their attack against Miami; the team announced earlier this week that they’ve placed kicker Sam Ficken and running back La’Mical Perine on injured reserve. Perine was starting to become a regular fixture in the Jets’ backfield rotation, while the team was hoping that a healthy Ficken would return and help to stabilize their kicking game.
Neither will be at the Jets’ disposal this weekend against the Dolphins. Add in veteran tackle George Fant as a non-participant earlier this week in practice and the Jets have some key injuries to sort out ahead of Sunday’s game.
Miami, of course, has their own injuries to tackle this weekend. Offensive line starter Jesse Davis has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list and is not expected to be available. Right guard Solomon Kindley has a foot injury that kept him out of the lineup in the second half of Miami’s loss to the Broncos last weekend. The subsequent adjustments up front will be critical to deciphering Miami’s game plan and how much success the team can find with the football a week after flopping offensive against the Denver Broncos.
The Dolphins will travel to New York and hope for the kind of rebound performance you’d expect from a good team; if they’re able to impose their will on the Jets (again), Miami fans should feel much better about the stretch run to come. But this is a divisional contest and these teams are playing for the second time this season; so don’t be surprised if things get a little wild and wacky early on.