The 11-5 Miami Dolphins need a win against the 10-6 Buffalo Bills on Sunday night to win the AFC East and secure the AFC’s second playoff spot.
Their defense has been broken lately. Their top two passers are out this season and their starting cornerback is out week to week with a foot injury.The good news for Miami is that they received an encouraging update regarding their injured starting linebacker. Head coach Mike McDaniel expressed optimism that Jerome Baker will open his 21-day practice window this week:“Jérôme did well. We’ll see how the work with the training staff goes before the training week, but I’m optimistic his window of opportunity here will begin soon.If they open Baker’s practice window, he will have 21 days to practice before being added to the active roster. If he doesn’t practice or the team decides not to use him within 21 days, he will miss the remainder of the season (depending on whether or not they make the playoffs). Jerome Baker suffered a sprained MCL against the Washington Commanders in Week 13 and was placed on injured reserve.Baker was overly optimistic about his injury, tweeting after the game that he would be back sooner than expected:”Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back sooner than you think.Baker had 69 tackles, two for losses, four quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions, a pick-six and three pass deflections in 12 games. Duke Riley replaced the injured Baker. He has 21 tackles, two quarterback hits, 0.5 sacks and a pass deflection over the last four games and has 39 total tackles, two quarterback hits, a pass deflection and a fumble forced this season. David Long Jr. is the other starting LB who started in every game and recorded 102 tackles, eight for a loss, six quarterback hits, one sack, one pass deflection and one forced fumble in his first season with Miami. Jerome Baker will likely miss the regular season finale against the Buffalo Bills. He has a better chance of being activated from injured reserve and playing in their Wild Card game. In the meantime, expect Duke Riley and David Long Jr. to be the starting linebackers against Buffalo.
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