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Rookie Tua Tagovailoa is the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, but Fitzpatrick has been called on twice in the fourth quarter to play what Flores compared to a “ninth-inning reliever” role. Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins to a 26-25 comeback win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday after a 34-yard heave coupled with a 15-yard face mask penalty set up the game-winning field goal.

The Dolphins signed Jake Rudock to the 53-man roster Thursday, and he is expected to be Tagovailoa’s backup Sunday. Tagovailoa, Rudock and practice squad quarterback Reid Sinnett practiced fully Thursday.

In addition, linebacker Elandon Roberts was placed on injured reserve and receiver Kirk Merritt was added to the roster as a COVID-19 replacement for Sunday’s game.

NFL Network first reported Fitzpatrick’s positive test.

The Dolphins would clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Bills. They could still make the playoffs with a loss but would need a loss from either the Cleveland Browns (vs. a Steelers team resting key starters), Indianapolis Colts (vs. Jaguars) or Baltimore Ravens (vs. Bengals). The Bills, who have clinched the AFC East but can earn the No. 2 (vs. No. 3) seed based on Week 17 results, have been coy on whether they will play their starters.

Fitzpatrick, who has never made the playoffs in his 16-year career, could be in jeopardy of missing the Dolphins’ first playoff game if they make it. Any asymptomatic player who tests positive for COVID-19 must wait at least 10 days before rejoining the team.

That means the earliest Fitzpatrick could return to the team is Sunday, Jan. 10, and only if he travels separately from the team via private transportation to participate in the game. There will be three playoff games on Saturday and three on Sunday for wild-card weekend this season.

Fitzpatrick, 38, is 4-3 as a starter this season, throwing for 2,091 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

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“Maybe not to all guys, but if it’s a distraction to one guy, that’s one guy too many,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “It’s better not to have them up there. It’s irrelevant. It can do nothing to add to what we have to focus on. It only has a potential negative effect in our view.”

Reich and general manager Chris Ballard started talking about the possibility of not posting the scores following Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It may seem like a good idea by Reich and Ballard to keep those scores off the scoreboard, but it’s only human nature for players to keep an eye on what’s going on with games that affect them when that information is easily accessible by phone.

“My normal mode when we play the 4 o’clock game, I kind of flip through the Sunday Ticket on my phone. So to say I won’t be doing that will be a lie,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “I won’t be consumed with it, but I’ll be aware. To try to pretend like you’re not going to know the outcome of those games is probably unrealistic. But I don’t think it needs to consume our locker room. Go through normal routine. If your normal routine is checking on 1 o’clock games, I don’t know why you will change that to act like you’re not interested.”

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While you might notice some overlap with Field Yates’ pickup column that publishes on Mondays, an important distinction is that the options mentioned in this column are focused solely on this week’s matchup and not the players’ values for the remainder of the season.

Do you need replacement options for injured players? Or are you looking to block your championship game opponent from picking up a player who might help beat you? A roundtable of fantasy analysts join me to identify some names to consider.

Here are some of our favorites for Week 17:

Quarterback

Philip Rivers, Indianapolis Colts (14.8% rostered; vs. Jaguars)

Prior to last week’s struggles against the Steelers’ steady pass rush, Rivers had strung together five consecutive outings with multiple passing scores and had tallied at least 17 fantasy points in ESPN standard scoring in seven of the previous nine games. With the Colts incentivized to win in an attempt to make the postseason in a crowded AFC playoff bracket and the Jaguars depleted on defense and headed for the top draft pick next spring, Rivers makes for a solid streaming candidate given Jacksonville has surrendered the third-most fantasy points to passers this season. -Jim McCormick

Running Back

Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens (22.5% rostered; at Bengals)

I’m not sure what else this dude needs to do. Really. I mean, he’s averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Not over the past month or this year… for his career (402 carries). He led the Ravens in carries last weekend with 15 against the Giants. While I’m not labeling him the top dog in this backfield, I expect Baltimore to pound the rock plenty against the second- worst run defense in terms of running back yards per carry against (5.1). -Kyle Soppe, ESPN Fantasy researcher