The Miami Dolphins are unlikely to have wide receiver Jakeem Grant for their final season finale against the Buffalo Bills.
Grant left behind the 26-25 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter with an ankle injury that will keep him against Buffalo, according to Ian Rapoport, the NFL Network.
Rookie Noah Igbioghene was used as a kick-off on Saturday night and newcomer Malcolm Perry took back the points ladder after Grant left the game.
While Rapoport suggested the possibility that Grant would end up in the injured reserve to create a roster spot, the Dolphins did not make that move on Monday or Tuesday.
The same goes for linebacker Elandon Roberts, who was taken off the field in Las Vegas with a serious knee injury.
The Dolphins played the game against the Raiders without DeVante Parker (thigh muscle), Solomon Kindley (knee) and Shaq Lawson (shoulder).
They have their first injury report of the week on Wednesday when they start training in preparation for the Buffalo game.
PRACTICE SQUAD MOVE
The Dolphins did their weekly practice group protections on Tuesday, but this time they included different names.
The four players protected this week were DB Brian Cole, DB Javaris Davis, DB Nate Holley and WR Kirk Merritt.
The usual names of quarterback Chris Myarick, Reid Sinnett and Rex Sunahara were not involved, meaning they could be stripped by another team this week.
Sinnett’s exclusion is interesting, especially in light of Monday’s report that the Dolphins brought in fellow quarterback Jake Rudock to begin his series of COVID-19 Tests.
GAILEY’S MAIN PURPOSE
The Dolphins coordinators held their final Zoom media sessions of the regular season on Tuesday, asking another question to Chan Gailey about his plans for the future.
This is a logical question to ask, as Gailey is 68 years old and has not coached since 2016 before the Dolphins brought him out of retirement.
“It was an unusual year, to say the least,” Gailey said. ‘The experience was like no other I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. I think someone asked me about this last week. I’m thinking of defeating Buffalo. This is what I’m thinking about. I’m not thinking of anything else at the moment. How can I help this football team beat Buffalo? ”
OUTLOOK FOR THE SCHEDULE NIGHT
Recently published reports have indicated that a 17th regular season is likely to be added in 2021, with the additional match as an inter-conference match against a team that finishes in the same position in its division.
According to Albert Breer, author of the SI NFL, it now appears that the extra game for AFC East teams will play against the NFC East.
That means the Dolphins, who are assured of second place in the AFC East, will face second place in the NFC East, but that’s all we can say at the moment, because the team can finally Dallas, the Be New York Giants. of Washington.
The terrain of the game must be determined.
In addition to the traditional home and home games with the AFC opponents, the Dolphins play 2021 home games against Houston, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Carolina and second place in the AFC North (Cleveland or Baltimore).
The road games will take place against the three AFC East opponents, Jacksonville, Tennessee, New Orleans, Tampa Bay and second place in the AFC West.
TALK TUA
Finally, we end with Gailey describing why there seems to be more of a vertical pass with veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick on quarterback than with rookie Tua Tagovailoa.
“Well, the situation of the game has a lot to do with it,” Gailey said. ‘When you finally fall behind and have to come down the field and score points quickly, it has a lot to do with it. We were a team that tried to be 9-, 10-, 11-, 12-play rides, manage the football, give a play-action pace, control the time on the clock. This is the situation we found with Tua in the ball game. On top of that, you miss some recipients from time to time and it has something to do with it. Much of it goes into decision making about what the play is called and what kind of plays we perform. ”