Breaking Down the Dolphins-Saints Week 16 Inactives

The Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints both have very short inactive lists because of their long COVID-19 lists

It was the COVID-19 lists that really have become significant ahead of the Week 16 matchup between the Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome on Monday night.

And because those lists are so long for each team, it's made for very short inactive lists.

In fact, that of the Saints includes only one player, though it's a very significant player.

That player would be starting left tackle Terron Armstead, who will miss a second consecutive game with a knee injury after being listed as questionable on the Saints' final injury report.

For the Dolphins, the list included three names: running back Salvon Ahmed, defensive tackle John Jenkins and cornerback Trill Williams.

Maybe Ahmed being on the list is a bit surprising, but perhaps we should have seen it coming with the return of Phillip Lindsay from the COVID-19 list for this game to go along with Myles Gaskin and Duke Johnson, who's fresh off his first career 100-yard rushing performance against the New York Jets in Week 15.

The Dolphins did elevate running back Jordan Scarlett as a COVID-19 replacement earlier Monday, but as we suggested at the time that move likely was made with special teams in mind.

For the veteran Jenkins, being inactive has become pretty routine since Raekwon Davis returned from his knee injury. Since starting against the Raiders and Colts in Weeks 3 and 4, Jenkins has been active only twice since — against the Jaguars in Week 6 and against the Ravens in Week 10.

As a reminder, the Dolphins placed six players from their active roster on the COVID-19 list before this game: TE Cethan Carter, CB Justin Coleman, G Solomon Kindley, G Robert Jones, OL Greg Mancz, LB Duke Riley and WR Albert Wilson.

For the Saints, the list of players on the COVID-19 list includes: LB Kwon Alexander, G James Carpenter, LB Demario Davis, LB Kaden Elliss, DE Carl Granderson, DB J.T. Gray, S Jeff Heath, QB Taysom Hill, DE Jalyn Holmes, S Malcolm Jenkins, T Jordan Mills, T Ryan Ramczyk, DT Christian Ringo, QB Trevor Siemian, TE Adam Trautman and RB Dwayne Washington.