Ryan Tannehill ruled out vs. Steelers, while injuries hamper Dolphins defensive backs

According to Miami Herald columnist Armando Salguero, Ryan Tannehill has been ruled out of Sunday’s AFC Wild Card Game with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

At the same time, the Herald’s sports columnist Barry Jackson reports that the Dolphins’ current situation in the defensive backfield looks dicey, to say the least. The Dolphins already have lost their two starting safeties for the season, and cornerback Byron Maxwell has been recovering from a recent ankle injury.

We’ll know more about this situation when the Dolphins release their final injury report, but after the Thursday practice things aren’t looking too promising.

Below is Miami’s injury report after Thursday’s workout:

DID NOT PARTICIPATE
CB Byron Maxwell (Ankle)
QB Ryan Tannehill (Knee)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
LB Jelani Jenkins (Knee)
S Bacarri Rambo (Chest)

FULL PARTICIPATION
CB Tony Lippett (Thigh)
C Kraig Urbik (Knee)

Maxwell clearly is the biggest name on the injury report, outside of Tannehill, and his absence would be extremely missed going against the likes of Antonio Brown, Eli Rogers, Darrius Heyward-Bey and company. Although Adam Gase is leaving the door open for Maxwell to return to the practice field, he sounded anything but confident as their best cornerback has missed both Wednesday and Thursday practices.

The Dolphins did get good news when Bacarri Rambo returned to practice, albeit as a limited participant, and joining Rambo was Jelani Jenkins with limited participation.

The Steelers and Dolphins are both dealing with injuries, but as Pittsburgh was the team without Cameron Heyward, Ladarius Green, Bud Dupree and Ryan Shazier in their Week 6 contest, it seems the Dolphins are the ones feeling the effect of the injury bug heading into the playoffs.

The final injury report will be released on Friday, and the Steelers and Dolphins will kick off at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday at Heinz Field.