The Miami Dolphins will enter Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season this afternoon with a slew of players sporting bumps, bruises and sprains. It’s inevitable this late in the season — but the Dolphins’ injury report could be the variable that swings the game one way or the other this afternoon. Many of Miami’s best talents are currently listed as “questionable” for the contest against the New England Patriots. But an overnight report from ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe and Adam Schefter seems to indicate that the Dolphins will at the very least have their best wide receiver available to them when the team kicks off against the Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium this afternoon.
Miami Dolphins leading wide receiver DeVante Parker is expected to play Sunday vs. the New England Patriots despite a minor hamstring strain, a league source told @CameronWolfe.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 20, 2020
DeVante Parker has already missed a half of football in one game against the Patriots already this season; and given the talent of the Patriots’ secondary, seeing another game come and go without Parker on the field would create plenty of headaches for the Dolphins’ offense as they look to do their part in what figures to be a defensive struggle this afternoon. Parker had success in last December’s matchup with the Patriots — posterizing the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore for over 100 yards receiving during Miami’s upset win.
That level of play, or anything close to it, could skew the game in Miami’s favor as the Dolphins search for just their second winning season in the last decade. That’s been a level of performance not easily replicated this season for Parker, who is still looking to get on the same page with Miami’s new starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.
Kickoff is scheduled at Hard Rock Stadium this afternoon at 1 p.m. EST; expect the inactives report to drop somewhere around 90 minutes ahead of then. But as things currently stand, we should expect to see Parker off the inactives list despite his lingering hamstring and on the field instead.
