The Miami Dolphins are looking to build momentum following a much-needed victory when they host the spiraling Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Miami (3-6) snapped a three-game losing streak this past Monday with a 23-15 road win against the Los Angeles Rams. The Raiders (2-7) are coming off an eventful bye week and hope to snap their own losing streak, currently at five games.
Las Vegas coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday the Raiders are sticking with Gardner Minshew as their starting quarterback in the hopes of stopping the skid.
Minshew has already been benched at two different points this season and has 12 turnovers, which ranks second in the NFL.
Minshew has completed 67 percent of his passes (148 for 221) for 1,501 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions with an 80.2 passer rating this season.
“Listen, when we brought in Gardner, we expected, obviously, the play that we had seen in the past and at some point, you’ve got to give a guy confidence,” Pierce said. “And there’s been times, obviously, with turnovers and other things that have taken place, where we made decisions to either put him on the bench or go to another quarterback.”
Minshew was most recently benched in the second half of the Raiders’ loss to Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9. The recently signed Desmond Ridder took over in his place.
Since the loss, the Raiders have made several personnel moves. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, offensive line coach James Cregg and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello were all fired. The Raiders elevated Scott Turner to interim offensive coordinator and made former Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin their interim offensive line coach.
Las Vegas also hired veteran coach Norv Turner, Scott’s father, as senior adviser.
The Dolphins’ defense held things together through the team’s rough start this season. On Monday, the unit sacked Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford four times, forced two turnovers and kept Los Angeles out of the end zone.
Miami’s offense continues to regain some rhythm as Tua Tagovailoa prepares to make his fourth start since returning from the concussion he suffered in Week 2 against Buffalo. Since his return, Tagovailoa has completed 73 of 94 passes for 672 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
“I just know there’s been an urgency for us to turn our season around and we’ve looked at it like we are trying to turn each day around, trying to fix each day of prep, fix everything that we can learn from from the game situations and how the prep relates and how we’re applying our prep to the games in the realest form, not just saying ‘I want to win,’ ” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.
The Dolphins got some bad news this week regarding their offensive line. Starting right tackle Austin Jackson was placed on injured reserve and is out for the season following a knee injury. Kendall Lamm will likely fill in again with rookie Patrick Paul backing him up.
As of Wednesday, offensive lineman Robert Jones (knee), wide receiver Tyreek Hill (wrist) and cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) did not practice for the Dolphins. For the Raiders, centers Andre James (ankle) and Cody Whitehair (ankle), cornerback Nate Hobbs (ankle) and tight end Harrison Bryant (ankle) did not practice.
–Field Level Media