AFC East

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been placed in the concussion protocol, head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters Monday.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported the NFL Players Association will review the situation. A source told Florio that it's "standard protocol" to review it.

Previously, Tagovailoa most recently suffered an ankle injury at the end of his team's Week 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, although it wasn't believed to be significant, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Any injury involving the 24-year-old is a concern considering his past durability issues.

Tagovailoa missed two games this season because of a concussion after injuries cost him four games in 2021. A hip issue at Alabama also led to a slow start to his NFL career after being drafted fifth overall in 2020.

The left-hander has totaled 3,548 passing yards and 25 touchdowns through 13 games. He leads the NFL with a 105.5 passer rating.

It's been a breakout year after throwing just 27 passing touchdowns in his first two seasons combined, totaling an 88.8 passer rating in that span.

The Dolphins have Skylar Thompson and Teddy Bridgewater behind Tagovailoa on the depth chart, but the offense could suffer a setback without the starting quarterback, especially as Miami (8-7) fights for a postseason berth.

Needing to win their final two games to have a chance at making the playoffs, the New York Jets will get Mike White back in Week 17.

Per Brian Costello of the New York Post, White was cleared by doctors Monday and will start Sunday's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

Head coach Robert Saleh confirmed the news to reporters, adding Joe Flacco will serve as the backup and Zach Wilson will be inactive.

White has missed the past two games after suffering three fractured ribs in a Dec. 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills. He told reporters five days later that he spoke to almost 10 doctors in an attempt to find one who would clear him to play, but none of them would do it.

The loss of White forced the Jets to turn back to Wilson as their starting quarterback. He didn't play as badly as he did in a Week 11 loss to the New England Patriots that resulted in his benching, but it wasn't much better.

Wilson threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns with one interception against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 18, but he completed only 18 of 35 attempts. His interception on the first drive of the third quarter resulted in a Lions field goal, and Detroit won 20-17.

Taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars four days later, Wilson was benched late in the third quarter after going 9-of-18 for 92 yards with one interception. Chris Streveler had some success, completing 10 of 15 attempts for 90 yards.

The Jets failed to find the end zone in a 19-3 defeat. It was their fourth consecutive loss after they reached 7-4 with a 31-10 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Despite having fallen under .500, the Jets still can reach the playoffs. Their easiest path would be to win the next two games against the Seahawks and Miami Dolphins and have the Patriots lose once in the next two weeks.

New England, which has lost four of its last five, closes the season at home against Miami on Sunday before traveling to Buffalo in Week 18.

The Jets can also qualify by winning out and having the Los Angeles Chargers lose their final three games.

The Chargers close the season against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night, Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 1 and Denver Broncos on Jan. 8. Those three teams are a combined 13-30-1.

White was 1-2 in three starts after taking over for Wilson, but his losses were against two 12-3 teams in the Bills and Minnesota Vikings. The Jets were competitive, losing by a combined 13 points.

The fifth-year quarterback has completed 62 percent of his passes for 952 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions in three games.

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones reportedly will be fined $11,139 for his low hit on Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple on Saturday, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network had previously reported Jones would not be suspended.

Jones appeared to go out of his way to take out Apple's legs after a Cincinnati fumble recovery. He was chasing linebacker Germaine Pratt, who had scooped up the ball, and then appeared to target Apple behind the play.

Apple accused Jones of being a dirty player after the game.

"Of course I did [notice it]. He tripped me," he told NESN's Sean T. McGuire. "I thought it was a dirty play. He's done that before; I've seen it."

NFL Twitter sided with Apple:

Jones provided his take on the play during an appearance on WEEI, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.

"I went down in front of him to kind of get in the way to stop him from slowing down Tyquan, who obviously could make the tackle there. So just kind of went down in front of him, trying to stop a fast guy from getting to another fast guy.

"It's a split-second decision and there's a lot that goes into it. You're out there trying to compete, it's a physical game. So just trying to help the team win.

"I have all the respect for Eli and the Bengals. They played a great game. So, there's no hard feelings and definitely no intention to hurt anybody on that play. Nor do I believe that when I'm playing quarterback, that's what [the defense is intending to do]; I get hit a lot, too. We're all out there playing hard. It's just part of the game."

It isn't the first time Jones has been accused of dirty play by an opponent. In 2021, Carolina Panthers edge-rusher Brian Burns called him out for grabbing at his leg after a strip-sack:

"Watching the replay and watching all the angles and everything, I think it's some bull. I think it's some bull for him to take his legs—because my main thing is he took his legs and he swept the one leg I had up, you know what I mean? I think it's some bull. And his explanation for it—because he thought I had the ball—I don't think you could think a person has the ball. Soon as I sacked you, you grabbed my arm. And then everybody ran past us.

"Even if you thought I had the ball, it's not legal to trip somebody or leg sweep somebody, let alone twist [an] ankle; it's not legal to do that. Everybody else ran past us. If I had the ball, don't you think I'd be getting tackled? Or your teammate would help? So, I don't think it's cool, but it's whatever."

It isn't a reputation Jones will want to foster around the league.

In the short term, however, the bigger concern is that the Patriots have lost four of their past five games and are a game back of the Miami Dolphins for the final playoff spot in the AFC.

The mediocre play of Jones (2,550 passing yards, nine touchdowns, eight interceptions, 65.6 completion percentage, 30 sacks taken) during his sophomore campaign has played a huge part in New England's struggles.

Huge AFC East showdowns with the Dolphins and Buffalo Bills loom. It's a tough way to finish the season for a team—and quarterback—looking to salvage postseason aspirations.

The NFL suspended New York Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin for violating the league's gambling policy, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Rich Cimini. Schefter added the suspension was for at least one year.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that there's no confirmation Austin bet on NFL games and that he might have wagered on other sporting events, which is also prohibited.

Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston shared a statement from Austin's lawyer, Bill Deni, who said his client "[wagered] from a legal mobile account on table games and non-NFL professional sports." Austin is appealing the punishment:

This is the second notable suspension within the last year for a gambling-related offense. Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley was banned through at least the 2022 season after he bet on games during the 2021 campaign.

Austin joined New York's staff in 2021 after the team hired Robert Saleh as head coach. He and Saleh had worked together in 2019 when Austin was an offensive quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers.

As receivers coach, the 38-year-old has been tasked with helping to develop a group that includes 2021 second-round draft pick Elijah Moore and 2022 first-rounder Garrett Wilson.

Moore's future with the team has remained murky after he requested a trade in October. Wilson, on the other hand, looks like a long-term piece of the passing game and is leading the team in the three major receiving categories (71 receptions, 996 yards and four touchdowns).

Before entering the coaching ranks, Austin spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a player. In 129 appearances, he caught 361 passes for 5,273 yards and 37 touchdowns, and he was named a Pro Bowler with the Dallas Cowboys in 2009 and 2010.

Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman offered a solution that would have saved Mac Jones the humiliation of being on the receiving end of Chandler Jones' stiff arm on the final play of Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Appearing on Inside the NFL (h/t Dakota Randall of NESN.com), Edelman said Jones should have tripped Jones to prevent him from scoring.

Even though Jones became the butt of most jokes after the play, the end result wasn't his fault. Rhamondre Stevenson took a handoff with three seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 24, he gained 23 yards before lateraling the ball to Jakobi Meyers.

Meyers decided he wanted to keep the play going, and threw a lateral that was supposed to be for Jones even though he was nowhere in the frame on the television feed until Chandler Jones grabbed the ball.

Edelman's theory sounds good on paper, but tripping is a 15-yard penalty that would have given the Raiders a chance to kick a 47-yard field goal on an untimed down.

If there was an attempt to prevent Jones from scoring by blatantly tripping him, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk also noted there is a rule that allows officials to award a touchdown "to a team that has been denied one by a palpably unfair act."

Stevenson took responsibility for the play by saying he shouldn't have lateraled the ball in the first place. Meyers admitted he was "trying to do too much and trying to be a hero" when he attempted to throw the ball back to Mac Jones.

Even though the game will be remembered for that all-time blunder at the end, Mac Jones didn't do himself any favors with how he played. The second-year quarterback finished 13-of-31 for 112 yards against a Raiders defense that allows the fourth-highest completion percentage and seventh-most passing yards per game.

Bill Belichick is a septuagenarian. When he celebrated his 70th birthday in April, he became one of only two active NFL head coaches older than 70, along with Pete Carroll. Only George Halas and Don Shula have coached more professional football games, and he owns more Super Bowl rings than any other human being dead or alive.

Which begs the question: How much longer does Bill Belichick want to coach a team that is 8-11 in its last 19 regular-season and playoff games dating back approximately one calendar year? How much patience does he have for a squad that, when it comes to boneheaded mistakes and penalties and lack of polish, has become the antithesis of the old Belichick model?

That was put on full display via the historically embarrassing way in which the Patriots lost to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15 to fall to 7-7 and remain in a tie for last place in the AFC East. Their 2022 demise is on an increasingly obvious horizon as they prepare to face the surging defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals as a home underdog in Week 16.

Odds are Belichick will fail to win a playoff game for the fourth year in a row, even if the Pats manage to make it to the postseason. FiveThirtyEight gives them just a 19 percent chance of doing so.

Belichick is basically the last component left from the Patriots' extended early 21st-century dynasty. Tom Brady is in Florida, Josh McDaniels was on the opposite sideline when the feces hit the fan for New England last Sunday in Vegas, and even right-hand Belichick guru Ernie Adams retired last year.

Those spoiled by the Brady era in Foxborough are realizing that finding another Brady is near-impossible, and that even finding a consistently reliable quarterback in Round 1, let alone Round 6, is a mission. Just look at 2021 first-rounder Mac Jones, who has struggled mightily with a 71.6 passer rating the last three weeks—right when the Pats needed him most.

Belichick appears reticent to endorse Jones as his starter for the remainder of a season that sees New England face three teams in playoff positions in Weeks 16, 17 and 18.

Where Belichick and the Patriots go from here likely depends on what Belichick wants. Likely, but not definitively. You'd think he'd have earned a lifetime membership in his role, but this is business, and if owner Robert Kraft feels it's time for a fresh start, a trade involving Belichick could be on the table. Belichick would have to sign off on that because he wouldn't simply coach anywhere, and whoever acquires an expensive 70-year-old coach would want to be guaranteed a number of years with him.

You'd have to question whether that'd be a publicity ploy more than an attempt to become a Super Bowl contender. Again, the Patriots are consistently proving to be a sloppy, poorly managed team. And consider how rarely Belichick hits on high draft picks. The jury might still be out on Jones and 2022 first-rounder Cole Strange, but they and Isaiah Wynn are greatly outnumbered by a failed group containing names like N'Keal Harry, Derek Rivers and Cyrus Jones (to name just a few).

Indicators of his recent success (or lack thereof) in finding, procuring and grooming talent: Stephon Gilmore is the only Patriots position player who has been a first-team All-Pro in the last four years, and this year's roster contains just one Pro Bowler.

Maybe the Patriots are better off starting fresh, whether that means finding someone to take Belichick off their hands in exchange for draft (or real-world) capital or asking him to resign.

Regardless, it feels as though they're smashing their heads against a wall with defensive-oriented Matt Patricia outlandishly running a revamped but consistently clumsy offense. And because they haven't had much success in recent offseasons, the talent isn't there. Nobody could blame Belichick for not wanting to tolerate a full rebuild, but that might be necessary if Jones can't emerge as a franchise quarterback.

Wynn and starting corner Jonathan Jones are scheduled to hit free agency this offseason, and three of their best young players—Ja'Whaun Bentley, Mike Onwenu and Kyle Dugger—will then enter contract years. The Belichick Way is to not overpay, but that's inevitable in this era. It's hard to envision the Patriots can get a lot better by investing deeply in a good-not-great core, but neglecting to do so will result in even more short-term pain.

In said era, a great coach-quarterback combo can compensate for a lot of flaws. But Belichick appears to have lost much of his touch, and Jones has by all indications regressed as a sophomore subject of the Patricia experiment.

You get the feeling they'll all give it another year. The Patriots have never been rash, and according to Spotrac, they're on track to enter the offseason with more salary-cap space than anyone else in the AFC. Jones could still make it, and Belichick deserves plenty of leeway.

But another year with Belichick, Jones, Patricia and this core has a very good chance to do more long-term harm than good for a team that is owed nothing from the football gods.

In a shocking move, the New York Jets benched quarterback Zach Wilson in the third quarter of their Thursday Night Football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

At the time of his exit, Wilson had completed nine of 18 passes for 92 yards and an interception. Chris Streveler, who was elevated from the practice squad prior to Thursday's game, took over at quarterback for New York.

The Jets struggled to move the ball with Wilson under center, and it was clear that a change was needed as the fans grew restless. In the middle of a chorus of boos, the home crowd at MetLife Stadium chanted "We want Streveler."

This benching is the latest low point in a disappointing season for the 2021 No. 2 overall pick. Wilson has failed to live up to his draft status and looks to have stagnated in his development.

Things got off to a rocky start early, as Wilson suffered a knee injury in the first preseason game of the year that caused him to miss the first three weeks of the season. Upon his return in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets embarked on a four-game winning streak, largely due to their strong defense and rushing attack.

However, rookie running back Breece Hall suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, leading to more of a reliance on the passing game. Wilson failed to demonstrate an ability to lead the offense, going 1-2 in the next three games. An abysmal performance in a 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots was the breaking point, as he was benched in favor of backup quarterback Mike White.

The Jets offense looked more efficient with White running the show, but the team suffered close losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills. White injured his ribs against Buffalo, forcing the Jets to turn back to Wilson.

After last Sunday's loss against the Detroit Lions and Thursday night's benching, it's fair to wonder if Wilson's career in New York will come to an end sooner than expected.

New England Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft invited fan Jerry Edmond, who was aggressively heckled by a Las Vegas Raiders fan following the Pats' shocking Week 15 road loss, to Gillette Stadium for Saturday's matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Video of Edmond getting harassed went viral on social media:

Per Alexandra Francisco of Patriots.com, Kraft "called Edmond personally on Wednesday, inviting him to Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Edmond accepted the invitation, and will receive a customized jersey and pregame field passes to take in warm-ups."

Watching the Patriots blow a game in the most incomprehensible way possible was surely rough enough for Edmond before the insult accompanied injury. Saturday's experience should be a friendlier one.

Perhaps there was a time in the NFL when quarterbacks were given more time before they were expected to be franchise cornerstones, but New York Jets signal-caller Zach Wilson was thrown into the big-market spotlight as soon as the AFC East team selected him with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 draft.

Head coach Robert Saleh wishes that wasn't the case.

"The frustrating thing is that this kid is going to be a good quarterback, but the NFL and this new instant-coffee world that we're in just doesn't want to give people time," Saleh said of Wilson, per Rich Cimini of ESPN. "So, we look at him and he's just nitpicked with a fine-tooth comb."

Saleh benched Wilson this season, although the BYU product was back under center for Sunday's loss to the Detroit Lions because Mike White was sidelined with fractured ribs. It remains to be seen whether White will return for Thursday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wilson went 18-for-35 for 317 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the loss to Detroit.

Saleh said he was "pumped" for the quarterback because he took the "big step" of overcoming some adversity during the game and leading a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Whichever quarterback is under center for the 7-7 Jets will need to get them back on track after three straight losses if they are going to make the postseason. New York is one game behind the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins for the final two AFC wild-card spots.