During the Dolphins Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered his third concussion since joining the NFL. With how severe these kinds of injuries could be, there were serious talks that the young signal caller should retire.
However, just over a week after it happened, reports have come out that doctors have cleared him to return to team activities as long as he’s “feeling good.“
Doctors cleared Tua Tagovailoa to do normal team activities as long as he is “feeling good”. Per, @TomPelissero
Remains unknown why the #Dolphins placed him on IR pic.twitter.com/8YvQAuO2VL
— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) September 22, 2024
Of course, the Dolphins put him on the Injured Reserve list before their Week 3 game, so that means Tua cannot come back and play until at least Week 8 when they take on the Arizona Cardinals.
The quick news does seem a bit premature after there was a lot of talk about not giving Tagovailoa a specific timeline to return, and the team would rather take the situation week by week.
For now, though, the most important aspect of this is not rushing him into playing too quickly, which could be why Miami opted for him to hit the IR even if Tua could have returned weeks earlier.
Miami Dolphins Offense Struggling Without Tua Tagovailoa
Instead of looking elsewhere in free agency, the Dolphins have opted to have backup quarterback Skylar Thompson step in.
As of halftime in his first game starting against the Seattle Seahawks, he has completed 10 of 16 passes for 79 yards, zero touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
It’s obvious that Mike McDaniel has opted for a much more run-heavy scheme with Tua out.
Unfortunately, the rushing attack hasn’t had much success, with De’Von Achane getting the bulk of the carries but only having 21 yards to show for it.
It goes to show how much the offense flowed through Tagovailoa.
