South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
No thumbs-up for Tagovailoa?
Injury suffered during practice this week has downgraded rookie QB to doubtful against Jets
The Miami Dolphins called on Ryan Fitzpatrick to lead the hurry-up offense in the closing minutes of lastweek’s 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos, hoping the veteran quarterback had a little Fitzmagic left in his tank.
With Tua Tagovailoa suffering athumbinjuryonhis throwing hand during practice this week, the Dolphins (6-4) will turn to Fitzpatrick once again for Sunday’s 1 p.m. road game against theNewYork Jets (0-10) — one of his former teams.
Tagovailoa, the former Alabama star whom the Dolphins drafted No. 5, was downgraded to doubtful Saturday, likely because the thumb injury he suffered in Wednesday’spractice impacts his ability to throwthe ball with velocity.
“We’re going towatch thefilm and see what it looks like, and we’ll make a decision,” coach Brian Flores said Friday about Tagovailoa, who has a 100.1
passer rating after completing 61.9% of his passes, throwing for 602 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in his four starts.
The coaching staff apparently felt it is in the team’s best interest to start the
16-year veteran and have Tagovailoa rest the injured thumb.
The Dolphins are attempting to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2016 and need to win the next two games to have a realistic chance to reach the playoffs.
Miami has a tough stretch of December games (at home versus the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, and on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills), making Sunday’s game against the win less Jets, who will start quarterback Sam Darnold, and next week’s contest against the Cincinnati Bengals (2-7-1) critical for its playoff hopes.
Tagovailoa was handed the starting job a month ago because the team hoped to speed up his development by starting him in the season’s final 10 games.
The rookie won his first three starts, but he was pulled in the fourth quarter of lastweek’s game after struggling against the Broncos defense, which sacked him six times.
Fitzpatrick replaced Tagovailoa with the Dolphins trailing20-10 with
10 minutes, 44 seconds left, and he immediately led
Miami to a 53-yard field goal, making it a one-score game.
Fitzpatrick completed 12 of 18 passes, throwing for 117 yards. He drove the offense fromthe 1-yard line into the redzone but threwan interception in the end zone in the game’s closing minutes while trying to thread the needle on a pass to DeVante Parker.
After the game, Flores and Fitzpatrick insisted that Tag ovai lo a was Miami’ s starting quarter back moving forward, stressing that his benching wouldn’t lead to a quarterback controversy and that the rookie would learn and grow from his struggles.
But neither expected a thumb injury would impact Tagovailoa’s ability to lead the offense heading into Sunday’s game.
Fitzpatrick will start his 146th NFL game and 20th for the Dolphins.
He is 3-3 this season, completing 69.8% of his passes for 1,652 yards with
10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has a 92.2 passer rating.
Fitzpatrick’s pocket presence and scrambling ability also benefits Miami’s offensive line, which struggled last week and will feature a new starting combination on the right side because Solomon Kindley, the team’s starting right guard, is out with a foot injury.
Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins in rushing last season, and he’s gained 141 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns on 27 carries this season. He’s also been sacked 10 times.
The Dolphins elevated quarterback Reid Sinnett from the practice squad. The rookie from the University of San Diego — who hasn’t played in an NFL game — will likely serve as Fitzpatrick’s backup.