Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Injured QB Tannehill won’t play Sunday.
DAVIE — After watching Ryan Tannehill move around Wednesday, coach Adam Gase determined that the Dolphins’ quarterback “still needed more time” to recover from his left knee injury. So, Tannehill has been ruled out for Sunday’s wildcard game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Matt Moore will be the starter as Miami goes for its first playoff victory in 16 years.
“We still needed more time. It just felt it was the right thing ... just so we can move on in this week and not play this what are we going to do [game],” Gase said Thursday. “Just focus on what we’re doing right now with Matt and the game plan to where guys can just focus on that and not worry about if there is a possibility of [Tannehill] coming back this week.”
Tannehill, who completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,995 yards and 19 touchdowns in 13 games this season, sprained the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee Dec. 11 and hasn’t practiced since.
Tannehill hoped to practice this week as the team prepared for its first playoff game since 2008, but he hasn’t been cleared to do so.
Gase said he watched Tannehill do some drills Wednesday and didn’t feel comfortable with what he saw. He called this point in Tannehill’s recovery “the gray area.” Gase insinuated that if he’d seen Tannehill move
around more fluidly he’d have considered letting him practice.
“We try to do different drills with him and just to try to figure out what he can articulate to us,” Gase said.
Moore, who has a 105.6 passer rating in the four games he’s played this season, will make his first postseason start. He has a 15-13 record as an NFL starter since joining the league in 2007.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” Moore said of starting Sunday. Some play a long time in the NFL and don’t get such a chance, he added.
“This is my second time ever being a part of a team that has gone to the playoffs, so I’m excited,” Moore said. “I know the guys are excited. It’s an unbelievable opportunity and a great football town, so we’re ready to go.”
Moore’s 8.29 yards per attempt is the second highest in the NFL among quarterbacks who have completed 50 or more passes in 2016. The only quarterback he trails is Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who is averaging 9.3 yards per attempt.
Veteran T.J. Yates, who was signed in mid-December after Tannehill’s injury, will continue to serve as Miami’s backup quarterback.
The diagnosis on Tannehill — who is slated to make $18 million in 2017, all of which becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the league’s new year in March — has been that he doesn’t need knee surgery and shouldn’t miss any of the Dolphins’ offseason workouts.
Gase has said he doesn’t want to jeopardize that outlook, and playing Tannehill against the Steelers could have caused a setback because of his limited mobility.
It remains a possibility that Tannehill could return to practice next week if the Dolphins win at Pittsburgh and advance to a divisional-round game against the New England Patriots on Jan. 14.
“I think we’re close,” Gase said of Tannehill’s timetable for returning to the practice field.