Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa likely won’t be suit up against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 29 as he was recently downgraded to “doubtful” with a hip injury. Tagovailoa hurt his hip in Miami’s loss to the Houston Texans on Dec. 15, even though he played against the San Francisco 49ers the following week.

What’s more is that Tracy Wolfson recently reported that Tagovailoa said his current injury is in a different spot than the area of his hip that underwent surgical repair back when he was in college.

Tagovailoa hasn’t been sidelined since the Dolphins lost to the Indianapolis Colts all the way back on Oct. 20. That loss marked the last game of a four-game stretch for Miami sans its starting quarterback after he sustained a concussion against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 12.

Assuming Tagovailoa doesn’t suit up for Miami, signal-caller Tyler Huntley would seemingly take his place in the starting lineup. Huntley started three games for the Dolphins earlier on in the campaign when Tagovailoa was down for the count with his head injury.

Huntley also reportedly could be the Dolphins’ No. 2 quarterback in the 2025 campaign, and a great way for him to prove himself worthy of a contract extension with Miami’s playoff hopes on the line would be to show out.

It’s not as if a win over the Browns would secure a playoff spot for the Dolphins by any means, however. Even if Miami comes out on top, they will have just a 11 percent chance of qualifying, according to NFL.com.

But a loss would more or less put the kibosh on Miami’s playoff chances, as the Dolphins’ odds would drop to below one percent.

After the Dolphins play the Browns, they will wrap up their 17-game slate with a road game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 5. At 4-11, the Jets own the second-worst record of any squad in the AFC East division, and they lost their most recent game to the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 22 by a final score of 19-9.