QB admits pain on every throw

Tannehill says right shoulder still hurts, aims to return for Colts game on Nov. 25

Ryan Tannehill said he’s battling shoulder soreness on a daily basis, but points out that’s not the reason he has missed the last four games.

The Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback said Wednesday that he can’t make NFL throws after resting his throwing arm for a full month following the capsule injury he suffered in Miami’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

“It’s being able to make the throw. If it was just pain then I can deal with that and go out and do it. Being able to go out and do the job is the issue,” said Tannehill, who has missed 24 games the past three seasons because of the ACL injuries he suffered in 2016 and 2017, and the shoulder injury he’s rehabbing now. “Every time my arm goes through that [throwing] motion it stresses the capsule.”

The Dolphins plan to rest Tannehill for another two weeks with the goal of having him healthy enough to start the Nov. 25 road game against the Indianapolis Colts.

“I want to use these next two weeks to get healthy, get back into throwing, get sharp and be ready to go,” Tannehill said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Tannehill suffered the injury against the Bengals when pass rusher Carlos Dunlap sacked him in the fourth quarter, and he landed on his throwing arm.

Tannehill practiced with the pain the following week, but during Friday’s practice leading up to the Chicago Bears game he noticed his velocity was gone.

“It fell off a cliff as the week went on,” Tannehill said. “It was a weird situation where you think you’ll be able to fight through it, and it went drastically the other way.”

Tannehill tried to throw Sunday morning before that Bears game, but couldn’t put enough zip on his passes, and Brock Osweiler started and led Miami win.

The Dolphins kept Tannehill from throwing for 10 straight days before having him throw a tennis ball, and then a football 10 yards 40 times.

When it was discovered that the pain still lingered, and that his velocity hadn’t returned, Tannehill got shut down again.

“What we’ve been told is rest is what’s needed. They kind of gave us an idea if you try to do this many throws or start here and then work to a football — those types of things — and we haven’t had the jump that he was looking for,” coach Adam Gase said, explaining his decision to shut Tannehill down for another week.

“That’s why we’re kind of taking a step back and saying, ‘Alright, let’s go [rest].’ We have time now.”

Osweiler, who has led the Dolphins to a 2-2 record and has produced a 91.1 passer rating while completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,034 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions will start Sunday’s road game against the Green Bay Packers (3-4-1).

Tannehill said he’ll begin throwing next week during Miami’s bye, which features players getting five straight days off, and the hope is that the extra rest will allow him to play against the Colts.

But Tannehill, who has a 92.9 passer rating while completing 65.9 percent of his passes and throwing for 972 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions this season, said that’s not guaranteed because of the “yo-yo” effect of the shoulder injury.

Tannehill labeled the injury “extremely hard” to deal with from a mental standpoint.

However, he’s been told it won’t have a lingering effect on his career. According to Tannehill, every doctor he’s spoken to has ruled out surgery, and said he can’t damage the shoulder anymore than it already is. to an overtime