📉 Injuries
Both teams are dealing with a handful of injuries among their starters.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said the team is trending towards playing QB Tyler Huntley for Tua Tagovailoa (hip) for a second-straight week. Huntley played well in Week 17 and threw for 225 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions while completing 84.6% of his passes. Huntley, who made the Pro Bowl in 2022, however, did not complete a pass of at least 20 yards down the field.
Miami could be without its left tackle, Terron Armstead (knee), and is now without its top two right tackles. Kendall Lamm, who had been playing for starter Austin Jackson, joined Jackson on injured reserve Wednesday.
The Jets, down their starting two left tackles (Tyron Smith, Olu Fashanu), could be without starting right tackle Morgan Moses, who has been battling a knee injury and did not practice Wednesday. Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said he’s hopeful Moses and Alijah Vera-Tucker, who did not practice with an ankle injury, will play on Sunday.
📉 Penalties
The Jets and Dolphins were the two most penalized teams in Week 17. They combined for 27 infractions for 214 yards.
“That starts and ends with me,” IHC Jeff Ulbrich said of the team’s penalties following their 40-14 loss at Buffalo. “I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that it doesn’t happen, but there’s a stronger understanding of why that can’t happen. You can’t overcome that against a team like Buffalo that’s rolling right now, playing elite football. It killed us, got us behind the sticks multiple times, extended drives for them on offense. Not good enough.
“I have not communicated that well enough. The impact of some of these penalties, you’ve got to do what’s right for the team over what’s right for you in that moment and we’re losing touch with that.”