Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa suffered the injury against the Houston Texans in Week 15 and was able to play against San Francisco last week. However, he aggravated the injury on a play against the 49ers and did not progress as the team expected last week.
Tagovailoa was limited in Miami’s two practices leading up to Sunday’s game, and was downgraded to doubtful on Saturday.
“You try to predict how things will heal based on the only thing you have to work with, which is the previous week’s forecast,” McDaniel said. “So, we expected and anticipated a schedule similar to that, and as the week went on, we didn’t see the improvement that we expected… In the end, he absolutely wanted to play. It wasn’t a bother. The tolerance thing; that wasn’t in the cards. the equation for him.
“…The main thing was that not only was he super susceptible to a much more significant injury based on that injury, if he were to fall into danger, but a major factor was his lack of strength due to the injury and his inability as we predicted to protect himself.” himself and his teammates inside the pocket doing the things he normally has to do.
After playing in all 18 games in 2023, Tagovailoa has missed five regular-season games this year, the most of his career. McDaniel said that while surgery is not currently considered necessary, he has “no idea” whether Tagovailoa will play in next weekend’s regular-season finale against the New York Jets.
The Dolphins coach did confirm that Tagovailoa’s hip injury was not related to the compound fracture he suffered during his final season at Alabama in 2019.
Tagovailoa told reporters Thursday that his injured hip felt “good” and described the issue as typical wear and tear at this point in the season. Defensive lineman Calais Campbell said the quarterback told him Thursday that the team would have to “take me out of the game” and that he planned to play the Browns.
Campbell, however, said he could tell, based on Tagovailoa’s representatives at Friday’s practice, that the quarterback was unlikely to play.
Backup Tyler Huntley started against the Browns and completed 22 of 26 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional 53 yards and a touchdown.
Making his fourth start of the season, Huntley said he feels more comfortable in this offense now that he’s spent three months in it.
“I actually know what the moves are and I have a good idea of the plays right now,” Huntley said. “So, yeah, a couple weeks on offense, it definitely makes a difference.”
The Dolphins returned to a .500 record for the first time since Week 2. They can earn a third straight playoff berth next week with a win over the Jets and a Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, who clinched first place in the AFC and They are likely to rest their starters.
Campbell, a Colorado native, joked that he would be a “huge Chiefs fan” for the first time in his life. He said the Dolphins could win games with the way Huntley played Sunday.
“It’s never over until it’s over,” Campbell said. “There are always opportunities and who knows, I mean, it may not happen. That’s part of it. But we have to go out in the stadium and, if it happens, be alert.
“Let’s go.”
