The Miami Dolphins are set to host the Green Bay Packers in a Christmas Day showdown.
The Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers are headed toward a Christmas Day contest as part of the NFL’s Week 16 schedule. Both teams are hoping to use a victory on Sunday to propel themselves toward a playoff appearance and possible run toward the Super Bowl. The odds are much longer for the Packers in the NFC playoff picture as compared to the Dolphins on the AFC side of the bracket, but both teams could use a victory in this matchup.
While the majority of the NFL teams will play on Saturday, the Packers at Dolphins game kicks off a Christmas Day triple header. Both teams have released their first injury reports for the game.
For the visiting Packers, a pair of offensive linemen did not practice on Wednesday. Tackle David Bakhtiari missed the workout with knee and abdominal issues, while guard/tackle Elgton Jenkins was out with a knee injury. The team also saw safety Rudy Ford, running back Aaron Jones, and cornerback Keisean Nixon all limited to some degree for the practice. Ford is dealing with wrist and knee injuries, Jones has a knee issue, and Nixon is dealing with a groin injury.
Green Bay included linebacker Krys Barnes, running back AJ Dillon, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the injury report, all as full participants on Wednsday. Barnes has a hand injury while Dillon is coming out of the NFL’s concussion protocol. Rodgers has issues with both the thumb on his throwing hand and his ribs.
Miami has the longer injury report, which seems standard at this point in the season. The team saw tackle Terron Armstead, wide receiver River Cracraft, safety Jevon Holland, linebacker Melvin Ingram, and running back Raheem Mostert all sit out Wednesday’s practice, through Ingram and Mostert were out for a veteran rest day and not for injury reasons. Armstead continues to miss practice as he deals with toe, pectoral muscle, and knee injuries, but he has played through all of the injuries in the past and likely will continue to do so this week. Cracraft has a calf injury that caused him to miss last week while Holland has a neck issue. Holland left last week’s game, then returned with a neck roll added, though he did not seem to be crazy about the additional piece of equipment.
“Yeah, I went into the locker room, got that Bobby Boucher out there and then come back out and help the team,” Holland said on Monday. He then continued, explaining, “Playing with the neck roll was kind of difficult. I couldn’t look left or right. I had to turn my shoulders and whatnot. It’s just something you’ve got to do though. The times call for what the time is called for and I had to do what I had to do to get back on the field.”
Holland added that he is feeling fine now after suffering a stinger after making a hit on the play. He said, “My arm was on fire. That’s why you saw me running off the field pulling my arm sleeve down because my arm sleeve was on fire. Then I had the neck roll on. When they first told me in the training room that I had to put a neck roll on, I was obviously against it. I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not trying to do that. I’m not trying to look like Brock Osweiler.’ But then I was like nah, forget it. I might as well, if that’s what I got to do. So I came out there in a neck roll and it just is what it is. Man coverage was kind of hard because I couldn’t really turn my head or anything like that. But other than that, it’s part of the game. More equipment. It is what it is.”
The team had defensive back Keion Crossen limited on Wednesday as he deals with a knee injury. Also limited were offensive lineman Eric Fisher, linebacker Jaelan Phillips, linebacker Duke Riley, safety Eric Rowe, tight end Durham Smythe, and running back Jeff Wilson, Jr. Fisher, who joined the Dolphins a couple of weeks ago to provide lineman depth, is working through a calf injury, while Phillips has a toe injury, Riley has a ribs injury, Rowe is dealing with hamstring issues, Smythe has a quadriceps injury, and Wilson is dealing with a hip problem.
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, defensive back Elijah Campbell, and cornerback Kader Kohou were all full participants in practice despite injury issues. Bridgewater, who has been inactive the last several weeks, is coming back from a knee injury, while Campbell is returning from a concussion and Kohou has a thumb injury.
The Dolphins and Packers kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday from Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium. Both teams will update their injury reports on Thursday and Friday.