Game day! Dolphins expect to get five starters back in the lineup against Raiders
It’s been a short week of preparation that included the Christmas holiday, but that hasn’t stopped a handful of injured Miami Dolphins from improving from injuries enough that they’re expected to play in tonight’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
A club source said Saturday morning the Dolphins expect left guard Ereck Flowers, receivers Jakeem Grant and DeVante Parker and tight end Mike Gesicki to play against the Raiders, although none of them is really 100 percent.
The Dolphins will monitor all four in pregame to be certain there’s been no setback on their various injuries, which could force a late change in lineup plans.
Flowers, who sprained his ankle against Cincinnati on Dec. 6, is expected to start at left guard. He regains his starting job just in time because the Dolphins will be without rookie Solomon Kindley, who moved to left guard when Flowers was out.
That means the Miami offensive line should look like this, barring any setback to Flowers:
LT Austin Jackson.
LG Ereck Flowers.
C Ted Karras.
RG Jesse Davis.
RT Robert Hunt.
It speaks well of Miami’s depth that in the two-plus games Flowers missed, the offensive line still turned to players with starting experience.
If Flowers unexpectedly cannot go, the Dolphins would turn to Michael Deiter as the left guard.
Parker and Grant both missed last week’s game against New England after they pulled their hamstrings the week before during a loss to Kansas City.
Both receivers have been limited in practice the past two weeks but the source said they will play Saturday night barring a last minute setback. Grant is believed to be closer to playing than Parker.
The trickiest of all the injured Dolphins to get back is tight end Mike Gesicki because he is dealing with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss last week’s game against the Patriots.
That means Gesicki must not only be able to extend his arms to make a catch or to block, but also must endure a hit or a tackle that might affect the shoulder. And although Gesicki has practiced on a limited basis this week, he has not been hit or tackled.
So while the team is expecting Gesicki will play on Saturday, there is no way anyone could predict what will happen next if he is hit on the affected right shoulder.
It would make sense, a league source said, for the Dolphins to invest the majority of Gesicki’s snaps on passing plays.
The Dolphins offense also will get back a starter in running back Myles Gaskin. He has been on the Covid-19 reserve list the past two weeks, so he missed games against the Kansas City Chiefs and New England.
It’s unclear how the Dolphins will split the carries between Gaskin, the team’s starter in six games, and Salvon Ahmed, who rushed for over 100 yards last week.
The Raiders, meanwhile, will be without defensive end Clelin Ferrell, who is nursing a shoulder injury. And defensive tackle Maurice Hurst is questionable with a calf injury.
This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Game day! Dolphins expect to get five starters back in the lineup against Raiders."
