With the division title on the line on Sunday, the Dolphins need to bring out their best against the Bills, and the only problem is the extensive list of injuries the Dolphins are suffering from. Every team suffers injuries, but I feel like the Dolphins have the longest injury report every week. We know that a lot of the players in the injury report end up playing, but it’s still worrisome that they have so many players dealing with injuries. But we shouldn’t bring excuses now, the Dolphins have had a great season and now they just need to continue with the next man up and stay focused.
As we know already, Bradley Chubb is out for the rest of the season, which means that Emannuel Ogbah and Melvin Ingram will both play more snaps than usual. Ogbah has been pretty good this year considering he hasn’t the chance to play a lot of snaps, he has a total of 16 tackles and 5.5 sacks on the season. As for Melvin Ingram, he just signed with the Dolphins a couple of weeks ago, and so far, he only has two tackles.
The big question this week will be at the cornerback position. With Xavien Howard out indefinitely with a foot injury, it leaves the question of who the Dolphins plan to start instead of him. We have seen Eli Apple take that role this season, but honestly, we can’t let that happen again. Eli Apple has been absolutely terrible this season and doesn’t even deserve to be on the roster. The Dolphins should definitely consider starting Nik Needham or Cam Smith instead, any of those guys could bring a spark to the defense. Another option could be elevating Ethan Bonner from the practice squad and having him play. He came in for a couple of plays at the end of the game against the Jets and showed that he can definitely play.
Another question will be whether Raheem Mostert can play or not against the Bills. It was originally thought that his injury was not so bad, but then he ended up missing the game against the Ravens, and now some reports are saying that it could be a serious injury, which puts him in jeopardy for Sunday’s game. The problem is that Devon Achane, who is the replacement, seems to get a new injury every week and is always questionable, and we never know if he will play or not. So, the Dolphins are going to have to figure out something in case none of them can suit up come Sunday night.
As for the rest of the injuries, none of them seem too serious except for Jaylen Waddle, who we already knew had a high chance of missing this game with a high ankle sprain. Tua was able to practice fully on Wednesday, and it seems like the shoulder injury that he suffered against the Ravens won’t keep him sidelined. As always, I am sure the Dolphins will have a lot of questionable players going into Sunday, but let’s just hope that the next man up can stand up and help the team. #FinsUp
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