AFC wild card games: Quarterback report | Herbert, Lawrence, Tagovailoa, Allen, Jackson, Burrow
The AFC wild card games will be kicking off on Saturday, Jan. 14, and eyes will be on the quarterbacks and their health situation for the playoffs.
The AFC playoffs are packed with excellent young quarterbacks, but unfortunately a couple of them will not be able to show off their skills at the start of the postseason.
The Miami Dolphins will have to do without Tua Tagovailoa in their playoff opening game on Sunday, Jan. 15 against the Buffalo Bills. He is still within the league’s concussion protocol and has not been cleared by doctors to play.
The 24-year-old has officially been ruled out of their wild card weekend matchup.With his absence, the Dolphins will choose from two options: rookie QB Skylar Thompson, or veteran Teddy Bridgewater, who is still recovering from a dislocated finger he sustained in Week 17.
Lamar Jackson’s injured knee
The other quarterback whose health has been in question for the postseason is Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. He has not been officially sidelined for their Sunday game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he gave an update on his status on Twitter and it doesn’t look promising.
He wrote that his knee remains unstable, and that there was still inflammation around it. The 26-year-old has not attended practice since Dec.2, and it is highly unlikely that he will see action this weekend.
Lawrence vs. Herbert
Trevor Lawrence has had a great season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, leading the team to an AFC South title by beating the Tennessee Titans. The 2021 number one overall draft pick will show if he will thrive or if he will buckle under playoff pressure.
Lawrence will first pit his talents against fellow young gun Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, who is also making his playoff debut. The Chargers quarterback suffered fractured rib cartilage earlier in the season, but ended up starting for all 17 games of the regular season.
Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Joe Burrow, all healthy and ready (Mahomes getting some extra rest due to the bye), top the list of quarterbacks in the whole league for the postseason. In just a few weeks, it will be seen if these high-caliber signal callers will be able to use their talents to lead their team all the way to a Super Bowl win.