The Miami Dolphins have been very successful this season against reserve quarterbacks. The burst victory in San Francisco provided Miami with many defensive highlights, as well as strong displays of the Miami defense against New York quarterbacks (Joe Flacco, Dolphins 24-0 win) and Brandon Allen / Ryan Finley, Dolphins victory by 19-7) were all successful attempts in the battle against the callers of reserve signal for the Dolphins.
And, for a while, it looked like the Dolphins may be ready to face another reserve in Week 16, after a groin injury pushed Derek Carr out of the squad the week before for the Las Vegas Raiders. This groin injury was classified as a potential two-week injury – but as the Raiders were playing Friday Night Football, Carr had three more days to rest and heal in hopes of being ready to face the Dolphins.
Apparently it worked. Carr was a full participant in the week-end practice and Las Vegas did not include him in his final injury report for Week 16; which means he must start this Saturday’s game against the Dolphins.
Raiders did not list QB Derek Carr in his final injury report for Saturday night’s game against the Dolphins. It looks like Carr is ready to start against Miami.
– Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 24, 2020
If Carr was injured but is not injured and is still playing, he may, in fact, be beneficial to Miami. Reserve quarterback Marcus Mariota seemed quite dynamic to the Raiders in week 15, while Carr is not the same caliber of athlete to begin with and he has his limitations as a passer. You can be sure that the Dolphins will try to copy certain parts of the defensive game plan that the New England Patriots implemented against Carr earlier this season – the Patriots limited Carr’s attack to 20 points and generally kept the Raiders in check .
Continuing the Dolphins ‘turnover series for 21 games will be a challenge this weekend with Carr in charge, if the team’s plan is to defeat the Raiders’ quarterback; the book about Carr is that he will not force coverage and takes care of football accordingly. But with that in mind, Carr had two fumbles lost against the Patriots in the same game – so there are big moves to be made anyway.
And if Carr is not 100%, but is still able to play, will he be mobile enough to navigate the Dolphin Pass race? Otherwise, seeing Carr at the helm may not be the worst thing for Dolphins.