The Miami Dolphins could be without their starting quarterback in a second straight must-win game.
Tua Tagovailoa’s status for the Dolphins’ Week 18 game against the New York Jets is ‘firmly in the unknown,’ according to head coach Mike McDaniel. He told reporters Monday that the quarterback’s hip injury did not improve as much as the team had hoped in the last week.
Tagovailoa suffered the injury at some point ahead of Miami’s Week 16 game against the San Francisco 49ers. Though he was able to play through that game, the injury got aggravated during the win. The 26-year-old had to miss the Dolphins’ Week 17 matchup with the Cleveland Browns – a must-win game for the team’s playoff hopes – as he recovered.
This week, McDaniel says, backup Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley will continue to get more practice reps than Tagovailoa and get prepared to start the regular-season finale. Huntley led the team to a 20-3 win over the Browns on Sunday, keeping Miami alive in the battle for the AFC’s final playoff spot.
The Dolphins are 2-3 this season without Tagovailoa starting. They need a Week 18 win and a Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs to make the playoffs.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
What happened to Tua Tagovailoa?
Tagovailoa sustained a hip injury at some point before Week 16. The quarterback was initially listed on the Dolphins’ injury report ahead of that week’s game for a hip issue but ultimately was able to play.
In Week 17, Miami listed Tagovailoa as a limited participant in practice all week – on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – and gave him a designation of questionable before Saturday’s downgrade to ‘doubtful’. Eventually, the team declared him out.
CBS’s Tracy Wolfson reported last week that the issue was with the same hip Tagovailoa severely injured in college but that the pain was in a different area.
Tagovailoa has already missed four games this season due to a concussion. The Dolphins went 1-3 in those games and are 6-5 in games with their starting quarterback. The latest hip injury has also already kept the quarterback out for one game.
Tua Tagovailoa injury updates
After missing the Dolphins’ Week 17 game with a hip injury, Tagovailoa may have to miss another while still recovering.
McDaniel told reporters Monday that the starter’s hip had not improved as much as he or the team had hoped in the weeks since the injury. As a result, Tagovailoa was not medically cleared for Sunday’s game against the Browns.
How long is Tua Tagovailoa out?
Tagovailoa’s status for Week 18 is a ‘gray area, firmly in the unknown,’ according to McDaniel. The Dolphins are practicing with the anticipation that Huntley may have to start again.
Tagovailoa may miss the regular-season finale if he doesn’t turn the corner in his hip injury recovery sooner rather than later. Should he have to sit, Huntley will need to pull out another victory in a must-win game.
If the Dolphins are eliminated with a loss to the Jets in Week 18 or a Broncos win over the Chiefs in Kansas City, Tagovailoa’s recovery timeline is moot. He’ll likely be ready to go by the start of next season, but his short-term timetable won’t matter as Miami begins its offseason.