The Miami Dolphins will likely play in mid-January for the first time in a generation
It has been two decades since the Dolphins played a game the second weekend of January.
But unless the nation and the NFL get their parallel COVID-19 crises under control, that streak will likely end in early 2021.
Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, acknowledged the obvious Tuesday when asked about the growing likelihood the NFL will need to use an 18-week season this fall.
“The focus has been playing 256 games in a 17-week schedule,” Vincent said on a conference call with reporters. “We’ve been consistent on that. [But] we lose that flexibility as the weeks go on and we [might] have to adjust. That’s what we have to avoid. As the season progresses, byes become less and less.
“The focus is on playing 256 games in a 17-week window knowing that potentially, if things continue to happen, the 18th week could be an option.”
As Vincent suggested, the Dolphins have basically no margin for error going forward — even though they have not had a positive test since late August.
The Patriots’ recent outbreak caused four changes to the next six weeks of the Dolphins’ schedule — including switching this weekend’s game from at the Broncos to home against the Jets — and once Miami hits its new bye in Week 7, the team must play games in each of the season’s final 10 weeks to finish on time.
That seems unlikely with cases spiking all across the country, including in a number of NFL cities.
“We expect COVID cases as long as [the virus is] prevalent in our communities,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We cannot become complacent. ... 90 percent is not good enough. We have to be incredibly diligent.”
Should one of the Dolphins’ six remaining home games get postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak — either within their own locker room or their opposition’s — the grounds crew at Hard Rock Stadium could face a herculean challenge:
Three big-time football games in 10 days, including a Dolphins home game on Jan. 10 and the national championship game the very next night.
The NFL in recent years has managed the schedule in a way that puts the Dolphins on the road in Week 17, to save wear-and-tear on the Hard Rock playing surface with the Orange Bowl always the same week.
But as of now, the Orange Bowl is scheduled for Jan. 2, and the College Football Playoff title game is to be played on that same field nine days later (although that of course is also subject to change).
Asked about the significant schedule changes, Dolphins coach Brian Flores said this Sunday:
“We don’t normally meet in the morning of game day. We normally just hop on the bus, but I called a meeting and to talk to them about the schedule changes so there was some clarity for them on what was going on over the next few weeks. We talked about it. I told them what the schedule would be and that’s that. I answered all their questions and then told them to focus on the 49ers. I think they did a really good job of that. Again, our coaching staff put together a good plan, offensively, defensively, the kicking game and the guys executed. It’s a different year and everyone’s got to adjust and be flexible. We’ve been talking about that all year and we’re going to have to do that. We’ve got coaches breaking down film of the Jets this morning and I’m sure they’re doing the same thing, but we’ve just got to adapt and that’s what we’ll do.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
