Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins have done just about everything they need to do since facing the New York Jets three weeks ago except stay healthy.
Injuries to linebacker Jaelan Phillips (torn Achilles) and starting safety Jevon Holland (knee) overshadowed Miami’s win over the Jets in Week 12, when Holland also returned an intercepted Hail Mary attempt from 99 yards for a score in the first half.Injuries surfaced again the following week in the Dolphins’ win over the Commanders, when linebacker Jerome Baker suffered a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve. And they played a big role in last week’s 28-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans, with Miami losing starter Connor Williams for the season to a torn ACL and star receiver Tyreek Hill largely limited by an ankle injury. “That’s how the league works,” Tagovailoa said. “You pray that you can have healthy seasons and stay healthy as long as you can, but it’s a physical sport and things like that happen. When these things happen, how can we emerge as a team and not take our foot off the accelerator?He challenged the Dolphins not to be too “emotional” during Sunday’s game against the Jets, despite blowing a 14-point lead against Tennessee with less than five minutes remaining. The Dolphins (9-4) are still atop the AFC East and are the second seed in the conference.“We don’t want to go into the game thinking we have to do this, we have to do that,” Tagovailoa said. “We just have to play within the rules and principles of what that game means to us.”The Jets (5-8) are coming off one of the best wins of their season, a 30-6 victory over the Houston Texans, which can serve as an energizing win to build on. “It was huge for us to get that win and get a feel for who we are again,” defensive lineman Solomon Thomas said.“It’s another division game. Normally you don’t like the opponents in your division at all. You’re rivals, you play each other twice a year, you know each other too well, so it’s definitely a game you want to win.”Coach Robert Saleh characterized the Week 12 matchup as a mix of “unfortunate situations” and “missed opportunities.”He also doesn’t think the exposure of playing the Dolphins just three weeks ago will help or hurt the Jets, who are technically not out of the playoff race despite struggling for much of the season.“We both are who we are,” Saleh said. “There will be some nuances, there will be some changes. I’m sure coach (Mike) McDaniel will have 65 new plays, but the core is the philosophy and style of play that those guys have and the same goes for us on offense, defense and special teams.Hill’s ankle injury suffered in the first quarter against Tennessee calls into question his availability on Sunday.Coach Mike McDaniel said earlier this week that he will wait for Hill to tell him if he feels he can play on his ankle, which the star receiver said hurt him badly in the second half.”He’ll take care of what he has in his hands,” McDaniel said, “but he’s such an important part of our team that we’ll make sure that when he’s on the field, he’s not at risk of injury.” further. “
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