MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins do indeed expect quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to play again this year, Mike McDaniel acknowledged for the first time Monday.
McDaniel was comfortable providing that update after Tagovailoa’s ongoing consultations with both team and outside doctors have “continued to be positive.”
“There’s still information that he’s seeking this week,” McDaniel said. “And as far as timelines go, I know he’s not playing this week. And I do expect to see him playing football in 2024. But where that is exactly, we’ll let the process continue since we still have time before he even could entertain anything. So we’ll make sure that he’s diligent this week and assess after that.”

Injury Update for Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
Even if Tagovailoa were ready to return this week, he couldn’t. He must sit out at least one more game due to NFL rules involving players placed on injured reserve. But there’s more and more optimism by the day that he’ll be back on the field as soon as Week 8, which is the earliest he can.
But to do that, he must meet clearly defined benchmarks. Tagovailoa is in the NFL’s five-step protocol after suffering his fourth diagnosed concussion in Week 2.
Mike McDaniel says for the first time that he expects Tua Tagovailoa to play football again in 2024 pic.twitter.com/7dHx44D9JR
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) October 14, 2024
While McDaniel did not say where in the protocol Tagovailoa is, common sense suggests that he’s in Phase 3, which is football-specific exercise (cardiovascular drills that simulate football activities).
But as soon as the Dolphins open his return-to-play window — which could happen as soon as next Wednesday — he presumably will advance to Phase 4, which involves non-contact training drills.
What’s more, according to the league, “neurocognitive and balance training should be completed no later than the end of Phase 4 with the results interpreted as back to baseline.”
If all comes back as it should, Tagovailoa would then move into the final phase: Full football activity/clearance.
“Upon clearance by the club physician for full football activity involving contact, the player must be examined by the Independent Neurological Consultant (INC) assigned to his club. If the INC concurs with the club physician that the player’s concussion has resolved, he may participate in the club’s next practice or game.”
That next game very well could be in 13 days — which is something that many thought wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) happen in 2024.
When asked if the prospect of Tagovailoa missing the rest of the season ever crossed his mind, McDaniel replied:
“No, and I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is for me as a head coach, it’s absolutely imperative that I control the controllables. It was so fast from him getting hurt to immediately going into, ‘All right, what’s the best thing for you Tua? Where are you at in allowing the process to really not get ahead of it. And so I didn’t really allow myself any sort of contemplation moments on whether he would or wouldn’t.
“I was so concerned with where he was at, and in his career, for his family and everything that is true to be his, and trying to operate on a next man up mentality from that. It is exciting that I do believe he’ll play football this year.
“I never went down that rabbit hole of if he would or wouldn’t, just because I’ve learned through circumstance how that’s the wrong question to be asking. The right questions are completely 100% toward the human being and the player as a result.”