There will be a new #1 seed in the AFC this season, and the battle for home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs is down to two teams — the Miami Dolphins and the Baltimore Ravens. These two teams play one another on Sunday in arguably the most-anticipated game of week 17.
However, one key Dolphin is set to miss out on the fun at M&T Bank Stadium. Receiver Jaylen Waddle is carrying a lower-body injury that could keep him on the shelf until the season finale against AFC East rivals Buffalo — but Waddle‘s teammate Tyreek Hill is hoping, perhaps against hope, that the third-year wideout will be able to take the field anyway for this high-stakes showdown.
Tyreek Hill about whether Jaylen Waddle will play Sunday against the Ravens
What is Waddle’s injury?
Waddle suffered an ankle injury during Miami‘s 22-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve. Head coach Mike McDaniel has said the injury, a high ankle sprain, is “tricky,” but he also has praised Waddle’s toughness and determination to fight trough physical ailments in his short NFL career.
Likewise, Hill believes Waddle knows exactly what is in play for the Dolphins on Sunday, when one more win would clinch Miami’s first division title in 15 years. Knowing “the type of player” Waddle is, Hill thinks the big-play threat could make a sensational recovery to face the Ravens and their punishing defense.
The race for the top seed
The Dolphins must beat the Ravens in Baltimore — something only two other teams have done this season — in order stay in the hunt for the conference’s #1 seed. Hill, the NFL’s receiving yards leader, is expected to play, and a big day will give him a chance to break the single-season yardage record in week 18. But the task becomes tougher for Miami without Waddle, who has recorded three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to begin his pro career.
However, Miami understands that the season does not boil down to New Year’s Eve in Baltimore, where the Ravens are four-point favorites. Even if the Dolphins don’t win on Sunday, a victory against the Bills in the final regular-season game will serve the same purpose — a first division title since 2008, and at least one home game at Hard Rock Stadium as the AFC’s #2 seed.
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Marca
