During the Miami Dolphins’ victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed some time for what was originally reported as a head injury.
However, after the game, the quarterback and head coach discussed the back and ankle being more of an issue than the head at the time. While all three injuries are normally things that deserve attention after a game, answers are much more intriguing this week, as the Dolphins are preparing for a Thursday night meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals.
On Monday afternoon, head coach Mike McDaniel provided a bit of an update on Tagovailoa’s status the day after the win.
“I have an update that he’s feeling sore, but as far as everything else, we’re just acquiring information right now,” McDaniel said. “He was pretty sore, which we knew he was going to be. His ankle was a little sore too from all of his inner-trench warfare. These Thursday night games, you get used to just doing the best you can. We’re trying to get information as fast as possible. We’ll be working fluidly from that, but right now, especially in a hard-fought game like that, not just Tua, but there are a lot of players that we’ll be adjusting to on the fly, seeing if they can turn it around and give a healthy outing on Thursday.”
McDaniel isn’t able to determine whether or not Tagovailoa will play against the defending AFC champions this week, but he’s confident in his backups if they’re needed.
“It’s my first time on a Thursday night game with Tua, so I don’t assume anything,” McDaniel said. “It wasn’t out of the extreme norm bumps and bruises after a game. As far as me being able to access my crystal ball, it’s broken right now. That’s one of the reasons why you have a roster of capable people, and that’s why we brought Teddy [Bridgewater] here and drafted Skylar [Thompson]. You have to be ready for these types of adjustments. Just like Teddy was ready in the game, we’ll be ready for whatever we’ll have to deal with moving forward.”
Bridgewater played three snaps on Sunday during Tagovailoa’s absence. He dropped back to pass on all three plays, throwing two incompletions and getting sacked once.
Thompson was a healthy scratch in Week 3, as he was during the first two games. While his performance during the preseason was admirable, making the jump to regular-season football at this level might be a bit much for him at this point.
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