Final Dolphins injury report. And Hill named All-Pro. And the Allen blitz question

A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Friday:

▪ As expected, the Dolphins confirmed they will be without their starting running back and likely without at least one offensive line starter for their playoff game on Sunday in Buffalo (1 p.m., CBS).

Raheem Mostert was ruled out after thumb surgery on Monday; Jeff Wilson Jr. and Salvon Ahmed will carry the running back load for Miami on Sunday.

On the offensive line, left guard Liam Eichenberg (hand) is doubtful. Right tackle Brandon Shell (ankle/hand) is questionable, but it would be surprising if he’s healthy enough to start.

Left tackle Terron Armstead practiced on a limited basis Friday. “It’s kind of in a tough spot to say” whether his four injuries will allow him to play Sunday, he said after practice. But “my goal is to be out there lined up at left tackle on Sunday.”

Skylar Thompson will start at quarterback, and coach Mike McDaniel sounded optimistic that Teddy Bridgewater — who is questionable with a dislocated pinkie — would be able to be the No. 2 quarterback.

Besides Armstead, Shell and Bridgewater, four other Dolphins are questionable: linebacker Bradley Chubb and fullback Alec Ingold (who are both expected to play), tackle Kendall Lamm (returned to practice on a limited basis on Friday after missing 12 days with an ankle injury) and receiver/returner Cedrick Wilson Jr., who practiced fully Friday as he makes his way back from a hip injury.

Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) is out Sunday and hasn’t yet been cleared to do any on-field football work.

The Bills listed only two players as questionable: defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and receiver Isaiah McKenzie.

▪ Tyreek Hill was named a first team All-Pro for the fourth time in his career Friday, following an exceptional first season in Miami when he finished second in the league in receptions (119) and receiving yards (1710) and set a franchise single-season record for both.

Both the receptions and yards were the most that Hill has ever had in a season, emphatic proof that his success wasn’t mostly a byproduct of Patrick Mahomes’ greatness. But he’s playing with a seventh-round rookie QB and he comes off his quietest consecutive games of the season — four catches for 55 yards in New England, two for 23 against the Jets.

Hill has torched the Bills during the past two postseasons (for Kansas City), catching nine passes or 172 yards and 11 for 150. Those games were AFC championship and AFC divisional playoff games.

But a win in this matchup with Buffalo “would be mean a lot more to me because I’ve never been an underdog,” Hill said Friday. “In Kansas City, I was blessed to be on a real good team. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and so do the rest of the guys. I know it’s going to be a lot different than the two last games against the Bills.”

After the last game against Buffalo — when he caught nine passes for 69 yards but dropped two catchable balls — Hill tweeted: “I will never play like that again… bad performance from myself. I’ll be better.”

McDaniel needs to find ways to get him the ball more on Sunday, on screens, quick slants and perhaps jet sweeps and reverses.

Aware the Dolphins are 13-point underdogs, Hill said: “We want to be part of something special. Ten years down the road, if we’re able to come away with this win, we are going to be able to look at this moment in our carer and say a lot of people doubted us, had us as 13 point underdogs and [we] took care of business.

“Other teams will be using us as teach tape, [showing how the Dolphins] lost their quarterback..... and they went down there and took care of business. It’s going to be a cool moment.”

Hill said he had a punt return late in the Jets game — his first appearance as a returner in months — because “I’ve been itching for a return all year. I felt it was time.”

▪ To blitz or not to blitz? That’s the question facing defensive coordinator Josh Boyer for the fifth time in two seasons. Or more specifically, how often to blitz.

Overall this season, Allen had a 102.6 passer rating when not blitzed and an 82 rating when blitzed. But it was the opposite against the Dolphins.

In Miami’s Week 3 win, Allen had a 135 rating when blitzed, completing 17 of 22 passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. When Miami didn’t blitz him, he had a 73 rating (25 for 41 for 198 yards and no touchdowns).

In Week 15 against the Dolphins, Boyer blitzed considerably less.

In that game, Allen had a 127.1 rating when blitzed (5 for 8 for 64 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions).

He was good when he wasn’t blitzed, also, but not quite as good: 106.3 rating, 20 for 32 for 240 yards.

Miami’s blitz hasn’t been as effective since Brandon Jones sustained a season-ending ACL injury in Week 7. Opposing quarterbacks had a 104.9 rating against Miami’s blitz, fifth worst in the league.

“There’s no way I would play man and blitz Josh Allen,” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said. “They’ll get blown out of the stadium. The Dolphins have to change who they are on defense in this game to have any shot. Play a ton of zone. Play eight guys in coverage. Dare over the course over four quarters for the ball to be thrown underneath [unreasonably]. Slow the game down and make it ugly and don’t give this quarterback — who is a monster against man coverage — so many big-play opportunities down the field.”

▪ The Dolphins often use a spy on Allen, but that means one less defender for another responsibility.

As Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley explained, when a a defender spies, that’s all he does on that particular play.

“It’s not an easy job, especially because the quarterback can go either way,” said Riley, among several players who have handled that role at times against Allen. “He can show one way, come up, maybe a D-lineman may disrupt him from going one way and he goes the other way. It’s not easy. “

Boyer said: “Any time that you devote a spy or someone that’s going to be on the quarterback, then obviously you’re pulling him from somewhere else. So, either you’re pulling him from the rush or you’re pulling him from the coverage.”

▪ Chubb is in a difficult spot, with injuries that limit pass rushers. “You really got to get knock-back and be able to grab something with the one or two fingers, how ever many you may have,” outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie said. “But it’s a difficult task.” He has just seven tackles and a sack over his past 200 snaps.

Chubb, limited to 18 snaps against the Jets, had just 13 tackles (one for loss) and 2.5 sacks in eight games with the Dolphins. That’s the least productive stretch of his 57-game, five-year career and certainly not what was expected of a player who had 26 sacks in 49 games in Denver.

As for quarterback pressures, he finished 26th among NFL edge players with 51 — well below teammate Jaelan Phillips’ 70 and NFL leaders Micah Parsons (90) and Nick Bosa (89).

▪ With Mostert unavailable on Sunday, the Dolphins can take comfort in not only having Jeff Wilson, but also the growth shown by Ahmed by this season.

Ahmed averaged 5.3 on 12 carries this year, ran well in Buffalo last month (6 for 43) and had a 7-yard run to set up the game-winning field goal against the Jets.

“He’s a great fit to our system,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “I like his vision, his toughness, his ability to redirect, his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. We feel real confident that if his number is called, that he can execute with what we need him to do.”