MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is expected to miss his second straight game when the Dolphins travel to face the New York Jets on Sunday, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
Backup quarterback Tyler “Snoop” Huntley is again in line to start after leading Miami to a win in Tagovailoa’s place last week.
Tagovailoa is still dealing with a right hip injury that he sustained at Houston on Dec. 15 and aggravated on a hit against San Francisco the next week.
“It looks like the way I approached the week was probably smart,” said McDaniel, who had Huntley take more practice reps that Tagovailoa this week. “I see it as unlikely that Tua will see any action.”
The Dolphins are still in the hunt for the last AFC wild-card spot. Miami needs to win Sunday and have Denver lose to Kansas City — which will start quarterback Carson Wentz and rest the majority of its starters — to earn a playoff berth.
Huntley completed 22 of 26 passes for 225 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing against Cleveland.
McDaniel indicated there has been progress from where Tagovailoa was with the injury last week, when it hadn’t healed as quickly as the team hoped. McDaniel said then that Tagovailoa was not medically cleared to play, and it was “not safe” for him to take the field.
It’s a more difficult injury to measure than something like a bruise, McDaniel said, but he clarified that Tagovailoa’s bone is in tact.
“A bruise would be like pain tolerance,” he said, “and that’s something that I think Tua wishes it was just a pain issue. It’s quite literally being able to have the strength to do what we ask him to do, as well as protecting himself from a very serious injury if we don’t treat it appropriately.
“I wouldn’t say it was a bruise, but it’s kind of a unique muscle issue.”
McDaniel also said surgery would not solve the issue. Tagovailoa has had hip surgery before when he dislocated his right hip while in college at Alabama in 2019, which prematurely ended his season.
“It’s not a surgical solution,” McDaniel said. “It is a ‘stop aggravating this by pushing through’ and try to regain some security and strength. So it’s time.”
Tagovailoa will end the regular season with 11 starts — his fewest since starting nine games his rookie season. He threw for 2,867 yards and completed a career-high 72.9% of his passes with 19 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions.
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