Dolphins’ McDaniel updates QB situation, other issues as season unravels. Game time set
.JPG "Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws a pass during an NFL football training camp practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. Looking on is quarterback Skylar Thompson (19). (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)")
In five painful weeks, the Dolphins have gone from “talking Super Bowl” to needing a rookie seventh-round quarterback, or an injured veteran, to save their season.
They have gone from being in ideal playoff position, at 8-3, to 8-8 and needing a Patriots loss to even keep alive any postseason chances.
And they have gone from one of the NFL’s best quarterback situations this season to one of the most precarious entering Sunday’s finale against the Jets at Hard Rock Stadium (1 p.m., Fox).
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that he expects either rookie Skylar Thompson or injured veteran Teddy Bridgewater to start Sunday.
“I’m preparing for Skylar and Teddy,” McDaniel said. “In an ideal world, I am hoping I have the starter isolated on Wednesday in a perfect world.”
McDaniel said Bridgewater has a dislocated pinkie, which forced him to leave the Patriots game in the third quarter, but that he hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday.
“We’ll see as the swelling goes down during the week where he’s at,” McDaniel said. “He thought he possibly could go back into the game. Wednesday I should have more information on that.”
Tua Tagovailoa remains in concussion protocol and it sounds like he won’t play Sunday, though McDaniel would not say that definitively.
McDaniel said he’s not discussing Tagovailoa’s status because doctors have told him that discussing “anything but what we’re doing that day” makes “his recovery worse as a human being. No timeline has been discussed.”
Even when Tagovailoa discusses his status with McDaniel: “I feel compelled every conversation to reiterate, ‘There is no such thing as a timeline. It’s about today.’ ... If he’s thinking about going there, I snuff that out.”
Fox’s Jay Glazer reported that the Dolphins’ hypothetical first-round playoff game is Tagovailoa’s targeted return. McDaniel suggested that’s news to him, saying: ‘“I don’t have a timeline unfortunately.”
McDaniel said he doesn’t know what stage of protocol Tagovailoa is in; players must pass through five stages to exit protocol.
McDaniel said Tagovailoa told him that he “felt good” Monday.
Thompson had his own minor injury Sunday: a bloody fingernail.
“He started to find himself a little bit” in the fourth quarter, McDaniel said. “He’s such a rhythm player. He generally gets the ball out pretty quickly. He got better as the game progressed.”
Thompson has struggled in four appearances, with one touchdown, three interceptions and a 56.2 passer rating.
The Dolphins are exploring adding another veteran quarterback this week, McDaniel confirmed.
Among other injured Dolphins, McDaniel said backup offensive tackle Kendall Lamm (ankle) is likely out Sunday and left tackle Terron Armstead, linebacker Bradley Chubb and cornerback Xavien Howard remain “up in the air” for Sunday. All three of those players missed the Patriots game. Howard injured his knee when he had a knee to knee collision with another player in practice last Thursday.
If the Dolphins can’t rally and make the playoffs, they would join the 1993 team — which collapsed from 9-2 to 9-7 — as the embodiments of the biggest late-season implosions in Dolphins history.
Four teams are competing for the AFC’s final wild card spot.
The Dolphins make it with a win against the Jets and a New England loss in Buffalo. The NFL scheduled the Patriots-Bills game for 1 p.m. on Sunday on CBS, while the Dolphins and Jets play at 1 p.m. on Fox.
The Patriots make the playoffs with a win in Buffalo. If the Patriots lose in Buffalo, they still get the final AFC playoff seed with losses by the Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers (who play host to Cleveland) and a Jacksonville win over Tennessee.
The Steelers make it with a win against Cleveland and losses by New England and Miami.
The Jaguars claim the only available AFC wild card spot if they lose to Tennessee on Saturday and if the Patriots, Dolphins and Steelers all lose on Sunday.
The team that claims the final wild card playoff spot will open the postseason at the AFC’s No. 2 seed.
The NFL scheduled the Kansas City-at-Las Vegas game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and that’s potentially problematic for the Dolphins. If the Bills lose at Cincinnati in Monday’s late game, then Kansas City could clinch the No. 1 seed — and a first-round bye — with a win against the Raiders.
That would potentially give the Bills far less incentive in their game against the Patriots, though they still would be battling Cincinnati for the No. 2 seed and a home game in a second weekend playoff game. And Miami needs a motivated Buffalo to increase the chances of the Bills beating New England.
A Bills win on Monday and a Kansas City win on Saturday would give Buffalo a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed with a win against New England on Sunday.
Whatever happens Sunday, this cannot be denied: The 8-8 Dolphins, in a month, have gone from a very good team to a mediocre one.
For the season, they have been outscored 393 to 386. They’re 27th in defense.
They have thrown three more touchdowns than their opponents (30 to 27) but have also thrown seven more interceptions (15 to 8).
They’re allowing opponents to convert 41.5 percent on third down while converting 36.6 on their own (a subpar 24th in both categories).
They rush for 4.3 per carry and allow 4.3 per carry.
They have had 325 first downs and their opponents have had 325 first downs.
They’re bottom seven in the league in kickoff returns and opponent punt and kickoff returns. They have 106 penalties, 26 more than their opponents.
“We’ve had key players make mistakes in crucial situations, where we’ve had the lead late in the third quarter and lost them,” McDaniel said. “What does it mean for this week? Absolutely nothing unless you let it.”
Among those mistakes: a coverage breakdown on Jakobi Meyer’s 1-yard TD pass to seal New England’s win in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
“When we came out of the huddle, half the defense saw it one way, and half the defense saw it as another,” McDaniel said. “We have a coaching staff accountable to say ‘how can this be better communicated’ or have we worked on this… enough. Bottom line is we didn’t get it done.”
McDaniel put it this way on Monday: “We have one game against the Jets. I don’t look at, ‘We could have, would have, whatever.’ This is our journey. All my messages to the team is, ‘So?’ It’s been a tough five consecutive weeks for sure. Unless it gets us asterisk points about the Jets, why even think about it?”
This story was originally published January 2, 2023 at 4:58 PM.
