The Miami Dolphins are in a must-win situation as they head into Week 18, with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance. However, the availability of their starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, remains uncertain.
Head Coach Mike McDaniel provided updates on Tagovailoa’s status, sharing insights into the team’s decision-making process and the quarterback’s recovery.
Why Didn’t Tua Tagovailoa Play vs. the Browns?
Heading into Week 17, the organization was optimistic that Tagovailoa would be available to play. In fact, Tagovailoa even said earlier in the week that he was good to go after being asked how his hip was.
“I mean it’s good,” he said. ” It’s just like anyone else on the team and anyone else around the league. You get banged up little bit towards the ending of the year so just got to take care of that.”
However, McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s recovery did not progress as expected.
“Relative to a projected timeline based upon the previous week, I would say that it didn’t improve as we were kind of forecasting,” he noted. “Sometimes the body could care less about your expectations.”
By Saturday, the outlook became “bleak,” and McDaniel said the decision was made Sunday morning that Tagovailoa would not play.
“Saturday, it looked bleak, but officially with zero ambiguity on Sunday morning, we knew,” McDaniel said. “But that was based upon Saturday information that, ‘all right, it’s going to have to really take a turn,’ and when we saw it didn’t, it didn’t.”
When asked about when Tagovailoa sustained the injury, McDaniel pointed to two specific incidents.
“Specifically, Houston he took a shot outside the pocket, and then San Francisco [it was] the QB hit around the 50-yard line,” McDaniel explained.
Although some have raised concerns about whether these injuries are related to the hip injury Tagovailoa suffered during his time at Alabama, McDaniel reassured reporters that they are unrelated.
“Your question is absolutely fair because your question is the same that immediately that I posed to the medical staff,” McDaniel said. “But they are unrelated in terms of really the nature of that injury versus this.”
Will Tua Tagovailoa Play in Week 18?
With the Dolphins now facing a do-or-die scenario in Week 18 — they need to beat the Jets and then hope the Chiefs beat the Broncos to make the playoffs — McDaniel acknowledged that Tagovailoa’s availability remains firmly in the “unknown.”
“It’s all about time,” McDaniel said on Monday. “And I think what was tricky is we were basing all of our timelines with this particular unique injury to Tua (Tagovailoa) and how his body would respond to that based upon the week previous.”
McDaniel admitted the team’s expectations were thrown off by the change in recovery trajectory.
“We’re kind of in a gray area now because of just how his body did not cooperate with my agenda,” McDaniel said. “This week, I know one thing: Snoop (Tyler Huntley) will get more reps than Tua this week as we go through the week and have to be prepared for both guys to play because I don’t really know exactly what it’s going to look like this next Sunday.”
On Wednesday, McDaniel told reporters that they are preparing for Huntley to start against the Jets, but they will keep all options open and will be able to turn back to Tagovailoa if his hip improves.
Tua Tagovailoa will be limited today in practice. Mike McDaniel said they’ll approach today as Snoop Huntley starting at NYJ, but they have time to pivot back to Tua as the week goes on:
“It’s an easy adjustment that we’re definitely open minded to.”
(🎥 @MiamiDolphins) pic.twitter.com/aUv4TGmA26
— Will Manso (@WillManso) January 1, 2025
Speaking to reporters on Monday, McDaniel emphasized that the decision to play Tagovailoa hinges entirely on medical clearance. He explained that the team will never deviate from medical advice regarding a player’s safety.
“With injuries, it’s pretty cut and dry – 100 times out of 100, if someone’s not medically cleared to play, I don’t trump card that,” McDaniel said. “You have to have medical clearance to do so, and when doctors tell you that a player is not safe to play football, we don’t ever deviate off of that. That would be extremely irresponsible on my part.”
McDaniel also detailed the risks Tagovailoa would face if he were to return before fully recovering.
“It was not safe at all based upon a litany of things that his body was vulnerable to as well as his inability to avoid and move within the pocket,” McDaniel said. “The risk of just leaving him really unprotected is the way that I would say both on impact and the ability to avoid impact.”
When asked whether there were any second thoughts about playing Tagovailoa in previous games, McDaniel stood by the team’s decisions, citing medical clearance at the time.
“No, he was medically cleared, and I think there is inherent risk every time you play,” McDaniel said. “So that’s why you have to be very concrete with your medical team and very communicative with Tua.”
He added, “I think it would be safe to say that I don’t foresee ever as a head coach retroactively saying that I regret playing someone because that insinuates that you’re bending that threshold of both safety for individual players.”