Dolphins without several key players against Patriots

The Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots matchup Sunday is important for the NFL playoff picture, with the 8-7 Dolphins currently in the last AFC playoff spot and the 7-8 Patriots currently the first team out. But the Dolphins will be entering it without a lot of key players. Here’s the list of inactive players they tweeted Sunday:

Inactives for #MIAvsNE. pic.twitter.com/hDbdlCgWa0

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 1, 2023

Of those inactive players, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had already been ruled out (due to another concussion) on Friday. And at that point, offensive tackle Eric Fisher was listed as doubtful, so it’s not surprising to see him also inactive. But tackle Terron Armstead (seen at left above during an Oct. 23 game), cornerback Xavien Howard, and linebacker Bradley Chubb, all important pieces for Miami, were all only listed as questionable Friday. So it’s a bit tough for the Dolphins for all of them to be unavailable.

Of course, as is often the case this late in the NFL season, the Patriots are facing their own injury challenges as well. Here’s their inactive list:

Patriots inactives. pic.twitter.com/LnUm5frAt4

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 1, 2023

Cornerback Marcus Jones, tight end Jonnu Smith, and wide receiver DeVante Parker were already ruled out (all with concussions) in the Patriots’ final injury report, but there was optimism at that time about cornerback Jalen Mills. He’s been battling a groin injury and hasn’t played since Week 12 against the Minnesota Vikings. But he was a limited participant in practice Friday and was upgraded to questionable on that final injury report. So it’s unfortunate for New England that he wasn’t able to make it all the way back for this one. We’ll see who prevails in the battle of the injury-limited Patriots and Dolphins.

[Dolphins Wire; photo from Rich Storry/USA Today Sports]