Dolphins HC provides update on Tua Tagovailoa ahead of Week 18

Miami’s chances of winning in Week 18 do involve a Jets team that did not account itself well in Buffalo on Sunday, but the Dolphins are far from certain to have their quarterback available in their regular-season finale.

Tua Tagovailoa
missed Week 17 with a hip injury, and although the Dolphins navigated a Browns team starting the potentially overmatched Dorian Thompson-Robinson at QB, the AFC East club may have secured a playoff spot by now had Tagovailoa not landed on IR earlier this season. Mike McDaniel‘s club fared poorly while its starter missed time due to a concussion, and the hip injury he sustained recently is not healing as the team hoped.

McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s status is in a “gray area” for Week 18 and that he was not medically cleared to play in Cleveland, via NFL.com’s
Cameron Wolfe. The Dolphins started Tyler Huntley against the Browns. After a 22-for-26 performance that included 225 yards and a touchdown, he may hear his number called once again.

Miami is now 2-4 in games Tagovailoa did not finish due to injury this season, falling toward the bottom of the league in offense during the starter’s initial absence. Huntley started both wins, with Skylar Thompson also at the controls in a Dolphins loss this season. The former multiyear Ravens backup, Huntley, has enjoyed more time to get up to speed in McDaniel’s offense since Tua’s concussion-generated IR trip. But this is becoming all too familiar territory for the Dolphins, who are now committed long-term to their southpaw starter.

Tagovailoa has missed five games this season, this coming after he missed six (counting a wild-card game) in 2022. The former No. 5 overall pick also missed time due to injury in 2020 and 2021, and his draft status was affected by the significant hip injury he suffered to close out his Alabama career. Tua played all 18 Dolphins games last season, helping him secure a four-year extension that came with $93.2M guaranteed at signing and $167.2M guaranteed in total. This season, however, has not brought the Dolphins much comfort on the availability front.

If the Broncos do slip up against a diminished version of the two-time defending champs, the prospect of Tagovailoa’s playoff ability would stand to come up. For now, the fifth-year passer has some time to recover. But the nature of this injury brings cause for concern, given his past.