Dolphins

Dianna Russini reports that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross hopes HC Mike McDaniel keeps the team competitive among their front office changes and still has confidence that McDaniel is the right head coach for the team.
McDaniel, when asked if QB Tua Tagovailoa would be the starter for the rest of the season: “I am far from even going that direction of would have, could have, possible things. When [a player] doesn’t give you the best chance to win, you adjust. We play the players who give us the best chance to win. If that changes, we adjust there…. As a franchise quarterback, we’ve shown our belief in him by putting… resources toward him, all things in football are on the table… For conjectures for a headline, I don’t see how that helps the Miami Dolphins.” (Barry Jackson)
McDaniel on the team parting ways with former GM Chris Grier: “Chris is a guy I’ve worked with every day since I’ve been here. I’m a human being … That’s an emotional toll when you realize things are going to be different.” (Louis-Jacques)
Ian Rapoport reports Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon II is considered day-to-day with an ankle sprain.

Jets

Per HC Aaron Glenn, Jets WR Garrett Wilson will participate in practice this week. (Rosenblatt)
Glenn would not reveal who he plans to start at quarterback next week: “You know I’m not going to answer that.” (Cimini)
Jets S Andre Cisco will be out the rest of the season and will undergo shoulder surgery due to a torn pec. (Cimini)

Patriots

Patriots QB Drake Maye is leading the league in passing percentage on tight window throws, something that WR Kayshon Boutte says means a lot, given that Maye trusts him to make those kinds of passes.

“Tight-window throws are something in this league that I’ve kind of learned from college that, in man, it’s going to be close coverage. And it may not be as open as it is in college, but in the NFL it’s open,” Maye said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “So just giving our guy a chance, and realize that receivers, tight ends and even running backs have caught the ball their whole life, and guys on defense aren’t as used to playing football.”

“Tight-window throws, those are part of the NFL. There are good defenders on the other side,” Boutte added. “As far as when the ball is in the air, it’s really about who wants it more. In those situations, you have to be great at contested catches and at the catch point, too. We talk about catching the ball with strong hands. The DBs are taught to punch through the pocket, so a lot of times it is contact after catch. But I feel like what makes a receiver good, what makes a receiver great, is how they attack the ball. I salute him a lot because he trusts we’re going to make the plays. No quarterback is just going to throw the ball if he doesn’t trust you. So he trusts he’ll get the ball there and that we’ll make it.”

Boutte announced that an MRI revealed he has a grade 1 hamstring strain and that he could still play on Sunday against the Buccaneers. (Lopez)
Patriots WR Demario Douglas said his uncle was shot and killed ahead of his Week 9 performance, the best of his career: “This whole morning, my mood was different, I couldn’t hold my tears… He was here with me today, first day in Heaven he was working.” (Cameron Wolfe)
The Steelers are only paying S Kyle Dugger $650,000 for the rest of the season. The Patriots are paying him $10.3 million, including a $4.7 million bonus. Dugger will count for $12.18 million against the Patriots’ salary cap in 2026. (Ben Volin)

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