DAVIE, Fla. — With Ryan Tannehill ruled out of Sunday’s game against Detroit, Brock Osweiler will get another start at quarterback, and the Miami Dolphins’ super sub is optimistic he can deliver a successful encore to the most prolific game of his career last week.
But then Osweiler is always optimistic, even when he’s playing lousy.
“My confidence,” he said, “will never waver.”
A journeyman at age 27, Osweiler will start his second straight game for Miami (4-2) after the team announced Wednesday Tannehill will not play against the Lions with an injury to his throwing shoulder.
Tannehill also missed an overtime win against Chicago last Sunday, and Osweiler stepped in to throw for a career-high 380 yards and three touchdowns.
n The league is looking into how the Dolphins reported Tannehill’s shoulder problem on injury reports last week, two people with knowledge of the situation said. The Dolphins declined to comment.
TEXANS: Safety Andre Hal, who is in remission after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, resumed practicing on Wednesday, giving the team 21 days to take him off the non-football illness list and add him to the active roster.
Hal was diagnosed with the disease in May and immediately began treatment. He received the news of his remission on Sept. 18.
Coach Bill O’Brien says the players were thrilled with the news when he told them. He discussed the work Hal did to stay in shape while he was fighting the disease.
O’Brien says: “He worked very hard. Did a very good job of staying (engaged), was in all the meetings, let alone the weight room work and field work. He really stayed on top of the X’s and O’s.”
BILLS: A week after being lured out of semiretirement, veteran quarterback Derek Anderson is a starter with rookie Josh Allen ruled out with a sprained elbow on his throwing arm.
Buffalo (2-4) is at Indianapolis (1-5) on Sunday.
Anderson, 35, attempted just eight passes in three appearances as a backup in Carolina last year. He has a 20-27 record as a starter over a 12-year NFL career.
Buffalo’s only other option was backup Nathan Peterman, who lost the starting job to Allen after a 47-3 season-opening loss at Baltimore. The second-year player already has thrown four interceptions this season and 10 in seven games, including the playoffs.
OWNERS: Officiating was not a hot topic in the formal owners meetings that ended Wednesday, Commissioner Roger Goodell noted.
“There was talk on several occasions in the context of what the competition committee is looking to propose and implement and how to adjust to those rules,” he said.
But there were no formal discussions on the floor during the two-day meetings. Officiating has been a tense issue this season, in part because of several rules changes or points of emphasis, particularly with roughing the passer and helmet use in tackling.
Criticism has come from almost everywhere: players, coaches, owners, media and fans. They reached a fevered pitch in September when Clay Matthews drew two flags for roughing the passer and reaction ranged from rage to describing the calls as “textbook tackles.”
“They always want consistency,” Goodell said, “but we will always have calls that are not clear. The focus of trying to protect defenseless players is something very important and we have a tremendous commitment to that.”
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