A report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Media on Sunday morning said that the Dolphins had worked out a deal to trade defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the Ravens, but that it did not go through because of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s unhappiness with dealing Campbell.
McDaniel confirmed that things played out that way after beating the Patriots 34-15. McDaniel said he threw “an adult temper tantrum” when presented with the idea and said the interest in his services was a sign of just how valuable Campbell is as a player.
“It speaks to how he’s playing,” McDaniel said, via a transcript from the team. “It speaks to what he means to the team, that teams would be willing to do that, and there was some competition for that. But yeah, my job is to speak on behalf of what’s the best thing for the 2024 Dolphins. I’m just fortunate to work in an organization where myself and the GM can be transparent and work together, and he didn’t want to see any more adult temper tantrums.”
Campbell had one tackle on Sunday and he has 34 tackles and four sacks in his first year with the surging Dolphins.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw four touchdowns to lead his team to a 34-15 win over the Patriots on Sunday, but the schedule doesn’t allow much time for the Dolphins to savor their third straight win.
The Dolphins will be in Green Bay on Thursday night to play the Packers in the final game of this year’s Thanksgiving slate. That meant that Tagovailoa was asked about his 0-7 record in game played at 40 degrees or less — current forecasts call for it to be 33 degrees in Green Bay — since entering the NFL.
“Yeah, I mean I’m excited to kill narratives, so let’s go. Bring it on,” Tagovailoa said, via a transcript from the team.
Tagovailoa and the Dolphins are on their best run of the season, but the quarterback made it clear during his press conference that he’s already looking for what’s next.
I would say it’s always great to win,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s always great to enjoy the win. But there were some things second half-wise that we knew we could have capitalized on that we didn’t, things we said we wanted to do coming out in the second half that we didn’t and those can be frustrating. But I would say we’re still below the .500 threshold and it’s a long way to where we want to get to. We’ll enjoy this win, but this next one is going to be big for us, and we’re excited to go down to Green Bay and show everybody on primetime what we can do.”
If the 5-6 Dolphins can get to .500 at Lambeau Field, they’ll likely convince quite a few people that they’re capable of getting back to the playoffs for the third year in a row.
Packers receiver Romeo Doubs nearly came down with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Love with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter. 49ers defensive back Renardo Green was called for pass interference on the play.
Doubs’ head, though, struck the turf as he hit the ground, jarring the ball loose.
He was helped off the field by Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks.
The Packers have ruled him out with a concussion, which is not a good sign for his availability for Thanksgiving Day’s game against the Dolphins.
Running back Josh Jacobs, who has 22 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns, is in the locker room with leg cramps. The Packers list him as questionable to return.
The Dolphins didn’t feel they were dead when they fell to 2-6 in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s second game back from injured reserve and the last three games have shown why they still had faith in their ability to make something of this season.
Tagovailoa threw four touchdown passes as the Dolphins raced out to a 31-0 lead over the Patriots at home and the Dolphins were able to cruise through the rest of a 34-15 win. That makes it three straight victories for the Dolphins, who are now 5-6 heading into a Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field.
It looked like Tagovailoa would get most of the fourth quarter off to rest for that game, but backup Skylar Thompson botched a handoff and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez returned the ball for a touchdown. A two-point conversion closed the gap to 16 points, but Tagovailoa returned to lead a field goal drive that put things out of reach.
Jaylen Waddle had one of the touchdown catches and he posted eight catches for 144 yards on his most productive day of the season. Tight end Jonnu Smith continued a strong campaign with nine catches for 87 yards and a score and running back De’Von Achane caught two touchdowns as well.
It added up to 317 yards for Tagovailoa, who now has 11 touchdowns and one interception since returning to action, and the Dolphins’ chances of continuing this roll will rest largely on his shoulders.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye got off to a slow start in the first half and then lost a fumble on a sack in the third quarter before throwing an interception in the fourth quarter. He was sacked four times with Dolphins first-round pick Chop Robinson having a particularly strong game off the edge for Miami.
New England is now 3-9 and they’ll face the Colts next Sunday before going on a bye week.
The Dolphins are well on their way to a third straight victory.
After punting on their first possession of Sunday’s home game against the Patriots, the Dolphins offense caught fire. They picked up 262 yards on their final four possessions of the half and they ended all four of them by putting points off the board.
The Patriots have not had that kind of success on offense and it’s 24-0 as a result.
Tua Tagovailoa hit tight end Jonnu Smith for the first touchdown and then hooked up with running back De’Von Achane for the next two. The Dolphins drove back inside the Patriots’ 5-yard-line on their final drive, but two incompletions in the end zone led to a Jason Sanders field goal.
Tagovailoa is 20-of-27 for 247 yards and the Dolphins defense has sacked Drake Maye twice. The Patriots have also committed seven penalties for 45 yards and that hasn’t helped mitigate the obvious talent difference between the two squads.
Jonnu Smith got back to the end zone on Sunday.
Smith scored two touchdowns to help the Dolphins beat the Raiders in Week 11 and he opened the scoring in this week’s game against the Patriots. Smith slipped underneath the coverage and caught a short pass from Tua Tagovailoa for a seven-yard touchdown.
The score made it 7-0 Dolphins with 14:10 left to play in the first half.
Smith has four catches for 37 yards and Tagovailoa is 6-of-8 for 71 yards.
The Patriots had a chance to score on their second possession, but a holding penalty knocked them out of the red zone and kicker Joey Slye doinked a 45-yard field goal try off the upright for a miss.
Every week we bring you all the inactives from the 1 p.m. ET games in one post, constantly updated with the latest information.
The Cowboys will be without both of their starting guards in Washington on Sunday.
Left guard Tyler Smith was ruled out when the team handed in its list of inactive players 90 minutes before Sunday’s game against the Commanders kicked off. Smith missed two practices this week with ankle and knee injuries before returning for a limited practice on Friday
Right guard Zack Martin was downgraded to out on Saturday. He has ankle and shoulder injuries. T.J. Bass and Brock Hoffman will likely get the start at guards for Dallas.
Cowboys at Commanders
Cowboys: G Zack Martin, G Tyler Smith, CB Trevon Diggs, CB Caelen Carson, RB Deuce Vaughn, TE Jake Ferguson, DE Tyrus Wheat
Commanders: CB Emmanuel Forbes, QB Jeff Driskel, CB Marshon Lattimore, LB Dominique Hampton, G Chris Paul
Buccaneers at Giants
Buccaneers: T Tristan Wirfs, DB Tykee Smith, CB Tyrek Funderburk, LB Jose Ramirez, TE Devin Culp, DL Earnest Brown
Giants: S Anthony Johnson, CB Tre Hawkins III, G Jake Kubas, DL Jordon Riley, QB Tim Boyle
Chiefs at Panthers
Chiefs: OL C.J. Hanson, DT Marlon Tuipulotu, T Ethan Driskell, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, DE Cameron Thomas
Panthers: WR Jalen Coker, S Jammie Robinson, CB Shemar Bartholomew, LB Thomas Incoom, LB DJ Johnson, OL Jarrett Kingston, DT Jaden Crumedy
Patriots at Dolphins
Patriots: QB Joe Milton, WR K.J. Osborn, DT Jaquelin Roy, G Tyrese Robinson, DE Deatrich Wise, LB Titus Leo
Dolphins: RB Jeff Wilson, CB Ethan Bonner, CB Kendall Fuller, LB Mohamed Kamara, OL Andrew Meyer, TE Jack Stoll, WR Dee Eskridge
Titans at Texans
Titans: RB Tyjae Spears, CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally, OL Leroy Watson, TE David Martin-Robinson
Texans: DT Foley Fatukasi, T Blake Fisher, LB Jamal Hill, DE Jerry Hughes, CB Jeff Okudah, WR Steven Sims
Lions at Colts
Lions: CB Terrion Arnold, G Kayode Awosika, DT Brodric Martin, T Giovanni Manu, OL Colby Sorsdal, LB Al-Quadin Muhammed
Colts: QB Sam Ehlinger, WR Anthony Gould, S Darren Hall, DE Isaiah Land, TE Will Mallory, T Bernhard Raimann
Vikings at Bears
Vikings: TE Josh Oliver, CB Dwight McGlothern, DL Levi Drake Rodriguez, OL Dan Feeney, OL Walter Rouse, QB Brett Rypien
Bears: WR Tyler Scott, S Elijah Hicks, DB Ameer Speed, OL Ryan Bates, T Kiran Amegadjie, DE Dominique Robinson
The Giants benched quarterback Daniel Jones for business reasons, not for football reasons. And the Giants allowed personal feelings to interfere with what would have been the best business decision — prevent him from going elsewhere and proving the Giants wrong, Saquon-style.
But they’re going to waive him. Even though they haven’t done it, the owner has said it’s going to happen. (The reason for the delay isn’t clear, but it’s clearly coming.)
While many have adopted the narrative that Jones stinks, he doesn’t. He hasn’t. He helped lead the Giants to the playoffs in 2022. With Jones at the helm, the Giants beat the Vikings in Minnesota in the wild-card round. His struggles have typically traced to subpar offensive line play.
Once he’s released and clears waivers (he absolutely will), Jones will be free to sign with any team at any time. He’ll first need to ask whether to join a team now or wait.
Waiting would allow Jones to get a better feel for who the real contenders will be — and it might give him a chance to play sooner than later, if a starter gets injured elsewhere.
Regardless, consider the backup situations for the various contenders and ask whether a guy who earned a contract that paid $40 million per year and won a playoff game would be better than the current No. 2.
Buffalo: Mitch Trubisky. (Probably.)
Miami: Skylar Thompson/Tyler Huntley. (Yes.)
Baltimore: Josh Johnson. (Yes.)
Pittsburgh: Justin Fields. (Yes, but they seem to be committed to Fields as current backup and potential future starter.)
Houston: Davis Mills. (Yes.)
Kansas City: Carson Wentz. (Probably.)
L.A. Chargers: Easton Stick. (Yes.)
Denver: Jarrett Stidham. (Yes.)
Philadelphia: Kenny Pickett. (Yes.)
Washington: Marcus Mariota. (Probably.)
Detroit: Hendon Hooker. (Yes.)
Minnesota: Nick Mullens. (Yes.)
Green Bay: Malik Willis. (Yes, although Willis has played well this year.)
Atlanta: Michael Penix Jr. (Yes, but they likely wouldn’t do it.)
Tampa Bay: Kyle Trask. (Yes.)
Arizona: Clayton Tune. (Yes.)
Seattle: Sam Howell. (Yes.)
San Francisco: Brandon Allen. (Yes.)
L.A. Rams: Jimmy Garoppolo. (Probably.)
So, yes, someone who is currently contending should want Jones. Jones can afford to take his time. To wait for a clear shot to potentially contribute on a team that has the ability to go deep into the playoffs.
And maybe to wait to see if/when a starter gets injured and an immediate need arises for Jones to play, sooner than later.
The Patriots added one of their top defensive players to Friday’s injury report, and he may not be available for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez is now questionable with a hip injury. He was limited in Friday’s practice.
In 11 games this season, Gonzalez has recorded six passes defensed with one interception.
The Patriots have ruled out defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy (neck) after he didn’t practice all week.
Defensive tackle Christian Barmore is questionable as he continues his return from blood clots. He was a full participant on Thursday but didn’t practice on Wednesday or Friday.
Offensive tackle Vederian Lowe (shoulder), defensive end Deatrich Wise (foot), safety Kyle Dugger (ankle), safety Marte Mapu (neck), defensive end Keion White (knee), guard Cole Strange (knee), and linebacker Sione Takitaki (knee) are questionable.
Defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale (elbow), tight end Austin Hooper (neck), linebacker Christian Elliss (abdomen), and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux (back) are off the injury report and are set to play.
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is good to go for Sunday.
Hill was a limited participant in two of the team’s three practices this week because of the wrist injury that’s had him on the injury report in recent weeks, but he did not receive any designation ahead of this weekend’s game against the Dolphins. Hill has not missed any game action because of his wrist.
Left tackle Terron Armstead (knee) drew a questionable tag after not practicing all week. Head coach Mike McDaniel said he thinks Armstead will be able to play on Sunday.
McDaniel also said that he does not expect to activate offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn (quad, knee) or safety Patrick McMorris (calf) in time to play this week. Fullback Alec Ingold (calf) is also listed as questionable and cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) has been ruled out.
