Dolphins get two off COVID list, reveal status of Will Fuller. And what Tua will face
The Dolphins are removing receiver Jaylen Waddle and running back Phillip Lindsay from the COVID-19 list, making them both available for Monday night’s game at New Orleans.
But the Dolphins likely won’t get wide receiver Will Fuller back this season.
Brian Flores said on Monday that Fuller had a setback in his recovery from a finger injury and probably won’t play again this season. Flores previously said that Fuller had multiple fractures in that finger.
Fuller likely will end his Dolphins career having played only 65 offensive snaps, with four catches for 26 yards in two games.
Fuller - who signed a one-year contract for $10.3 million with incentives - missed the first game on NFL suspension, the second game because of personal reasons and the last 10 with the finger injury.
Fuller entered this season having missed 22 games in his first four NFL seasons due to injury and five more due to an NFL suspension for violating the league’s performance enhancing substance policy.
The Dolphins likely will finish the season with a receiver group of DeVante Parker, Waddle, Albert Wilson, Mack Hollins, Preston Williams and Isaiah Ford.
Meanwhile, Flores said that even though safety Jevon Holland was removed from the COVID-19 list on Saturday, he still has not cleared COVID protocols and isn’t yet ready to return to practice. He was removed from the list on Saturday so the Dolphins could use him Sunday if he had tested negative for the virus on Sunday.
Also on Monday, the Dolphins placed cornerback Justin Coleman on theCOVID-19 list, signed running back Duke Johnson and safety Sheldrick Redwine (who had both been on the practice squad) and waived safety Will Parks.
TUA’S CHANCE
The Dolphins will get a good look at Tua Tagovailoa against some of the league’s better defenses before they make one of their most critical decisions in years: Whether to stick with him next season or trade for Houston’s Deshaun Watson.
Over the final three weeks of the season, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins will face the league’s 13th-rated defense (New Orleans), the ninth-rated defense (Tennessee) and the third-rated defense (New England). Those rankings are based on total yards permitted.
In terms of points relinquished, the Patriots are first in the league - allowing 16.2 points per game - and the Saints are sixth (20.4). The Titans are 13th, relinquishing 22.1 points per game.
So that’s three top half of the league defenses up next for Tagovailoa. Conversely, not a single one of the Dolphins’ victories in this six-game win streak came against a team that ranks in the top 15 in points allowed.
Tagovailoa posted a 75.5 passer rating against the Jets on Sunday, ending a streak of four consecutive games with a passer rating of 100 or more. Pro Football Focus rated Tagovailoa the second-worst of all Dolphins offensive players on Sunday, ahead of only right tackle Jesse Davis.
Tagovailoa has produced his highest passer ratings this season against an Atlanta team that ranks third-worst in scoring defense at 27.4, a Jets team that allows the most points in the league at 30.6 per game and a Carolina team that is 16th in that category at 22.4.
Overall this season, Tagovailoa has 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and a 94.3 passer rating, which is 18th in the league - in between No. 17 Mac Jones and No. 19 Ben Roethlisberger.
But Tagovailoa’ 69.9 completion percentage is the NFL’s best.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday morning that even though the Dolphins “are more than pleased” with Tagovailoa’s progress, “I would not rule out anything for the Dolphins. They’ve been known to pull off a surprise or two. I would keep everything open when it comes to Tua.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported last week that 18 of the 22 massage therapists who have filed lawsuits against Watson agreed to settlements before the trade deadline and the Dolphins would have traded for Watson in October if the four other women also had agreed to settlements.
The Dolphins said in October that they explored trading for Watson but decided against it at that time, but didn’t explain why and didn’t rule out revisiting the idea next spring.
SNAP DECISIONS
Some notable positional notes from Sunday:
▪ Offensive line: Each of the Dolphins’ five starting offensive linemen played all 71 snaps. And rookie guard Robert Jones played 10 snaps in a six-lineman scheme, and Flores said he played well.
Pro Football Focus rated left tackle Liam Eichenberg the Dolphins’ best lineman on Sunday; he allowed just one quarterback pressure. No Dolphins offensive lineman was charged with permitting a sack, and left guard Austin Jackson didn’t allow a single pressure.
▪ Running back: Duke Johnson played 41 of Miami’s 71 offensive snaps and Myles Gaskin played 26. Salvon Ahmed didn’t play on offense.
▪ Wide receiver: With Waddle unavailable, the Dolphins allocated snaps this way: Parker 63, Wilson 41, Ford 19, Hollins 13 and Williams 6. PFF rated Ford the Dolphins’ best player on offense on Sunday.
▪ Tight end: Durham Smythe played more than usual (65 snaps), compared with 45 for Mike Gesicki. Rookie Hunter Long played 23 snaps and Cethan Carter one.
▪ Defensive line: Emmanuel Ogbah played 35 of Miami’s 57 defensive snaps, Raekwon Davis 31, Zach Sieler 28 and Adam Butler 28.
PFF rated Sieler as Miami’s best performer on defense on Sunday. The rest of the top five: Byron Jones, Elandon Roberts, Wilkins, Ogbah.
Ogbah had seven pressures in the game and his 57 pressures are 10th most among NFL edge players, per PFF.
▪ Linebacker: Jerome Baker played all 57 defensive snaps, Andrew Van Ginkel 47, Jaelan Phillips 41, Roberts 32, Duke Riley 9 and Vince Biegel 1.
▪ Cornerback: Xavien Howard and Byron Jones played all 57 defensive snaps and Justin Coleman played 36.
Jones allowed only one completion in four passes against him, for nine yards. Howard was targeted only once and that pass was incomplete.
▪ Safety: Cornerback Nik Needham played all 57 defensive snaps at safety. Brandon Jones played 36 and Eric Rowe 33.
“Nik is a smart player, understands the defense, who’s supposed to be in what spots,” Flores said of the decision to use Needham at safety, which he hadn’t played much before. “He was able to step in last week and take some practice reps [at safety]. We can plug him in a variety of spots and feel confident he will get the job done.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2021 at 1:14 PM.
