Dolphins downgrade Tua Tagovailoa to doubtful vs. Browns

Tua Tagovailoa’s hip injury is apparently more serious than it initially seemed.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is now doubtful to play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

Tagovailoa, 26, is dealing with a hip injury and was initially listed as questionable in the team’s Friday injury report. The fifth-year quarterback was limited in a pair of practices last week before a game against the San Francisco 49ers, but played through the injury in a 29-17 win.

Earlier this week, Tagovailoa downplayed the significance of the injury.

“It’s good,” Tagovailoa said Thursday. “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.”

“It’s something that in December football,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of Tagovailoa’s injury last week. “There’s a lot of those things where players across the board are getting dinged and you have to be able to executive with those things. He’s certainly not made an issue for this week’s prep.”

If Tagovailoa is unable to play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, the team would turn to backup Tyler Huntley to take over in the starting lineup. Huntley started three games for Miami earlier this season while Tagovailoa was on injured reserve. The Dolphins went 1-2 in those games and Huntley threw one touchdown and one interception.

In a corresponding move, the Dolphins elevated Skylar Thompson from the practice squad Saturday, making him available against the Browns.

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