Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been plagued by injuries at times throughout the 2024 regular season. He missed four games early on with a concussion, and Miami won just one of those contests with him sidelined.
More recently, he suffered a hip injury in the Dolphins’ loss to the Houston Texans on Dec. 15, and that injury sidelined him for Miami’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 29.
An update on Tagovailoa from Dolphins insiders Barry Jackson and Isaiah Smalls following the team’s practice on Thursday indicates that the signal-caller is in great jeopardy of sitting out his second game in a row when Miami plays the New York Jets on Jan. 5.
“Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s status for Sunday’s game against the Jets remains in doubt, and what was witnessed on the practice field Thursday offered discouraging tea leaves,” Jackson and Smalls wrote.
“During the 20 minutes open to reporters, Tagovailoa was seen lightly throwing a few passes while standing in a stationary position. Unlike Wednesday, he did not contort his body while throwing.
“He was standing watching practice the rest of the time, with hands in his pockets.”
The level at which Tagovailoa played against the Texans last month suggests that he was perhaps hampered by his hip injury in that game. He threw a whopping three interceptions compared to only one touchdown. Tagovailoa also finished with just 196 passing yards, his fewest in a single game since he totaled 145 against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 12.
Fortunately, the Dolphins have Tyler Huntley to serve as a spot starter if Tagovailoa doesn’t play against New York, and Huntley was key to Miami’s recent win over the Browns.
In his first start in more than two months he didn’t show any signs of rust, as he totaled 225 passing yards and one passing touchdown while completing all but four of his 26 passing attempts. What’s more is that he ran for 52 yards and one touchdown on seven carries.
Behind Huntley’s production as both a passer and rusher, Miami beat Cleveland by a final score of 20-3.
Huntley has led the Dolphins to two wins this season as the squad’s starting quarterback. Miami’s first win of the campaign with him at the helm came when the Dolphins beat the New England Patriots back in October.
If Huntley can carry over his play against Cleveland into Miami’s season finale, fans of the Dolphins should feel confident about the team’s chances of ending the regular season by winning their third straight game. A win on Sunday would give the Dolphins a 21 percent chance to qualify for the playoffs, according to NFL.com.
