Report: Fitzpatrick Out for Buffalo Game
It's going to be Tua's show in the Miami Dolphins season finale.
Veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick will not be available for the win-and-in Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills after testing positive for COVID-19, according to NFL Network reporters Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
Fitzpatrick practiced Wednesday but was absent Thursday., which means he would have tested positive sometime in between. Based on the latest NFL-NFLPA protocols, Fitzpatrick will have to isolate for 10 days, which could put his status in doubt for the wild-card round of the playoffs if the Dolphins do qualify, particularly if their game is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 9 instead of Jan. 10.
It's a big blow for the Dolphins because it removes the option of going to their relief pitcher, as head coach Brian Flores called Fitzpatrick, if the offense struggles against Buffalo.
The Dolphins have gone that route twice this season, including last Saturday night when Fitzpatrick threw for 182 yards and a touchdown in less than a quarter of action and helped set up Jason Sanders' game-winning field goal with a 34-yard completion to Mack Hollins while his head was getting twisted to the side.
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It's a tough blow for Fitzpatrick on a personal level, too, considering he's never made the playoffs in his long NFL career and won't be there to soak in the moment if the drought ends Sunday.
The Dolphins will clinch the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs with a victory Sunday, but still could get in even with a loss if the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens or Indianapolis Colts lose — though all of them are heavy favorites against Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Jacksonville, respectively.
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Former Dolphins practice squad quarterback Jake Rudock was at Dolphins practice Thursday, and the team later announced he was signed to the active roster to serve as Tagovailoa's backup Sunday.
Rudock entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2016 but has thrown only 5 regular season passes, all of them with Detroit in 2017.
In the biggest game of his NFL career, Tagovailoa also could end up playing in the snow for the first time.
Before news of Fitzpatrick's positive test, Tagovailoa was asked whether he felt additional pressure for this game in light of getting pulled from the Las Vegas game.
“I’d say for me, there’s really no extra added pressure for me," Tagovailoa said. "I would say the expectation for myself is very high in how I perform and how I go out there and try to lead the guys to victory. Obviously this past weekend, I didn’t play to that standard. It’s more so me knowing that we’ve got to go out there and got to get the job done. If you can’t get the job done, then that’s on you. That’s on no one else.”
