Gase just being cautious with injured QB Tannehill

Ryan Tannehill has already missed three starts this season, and it is possible the Miami Dolphins could play a few more games without their starting quarterback.

Tannehill hasn’t thrown a football in two weeks because of the soreness that he’s felt in his throwing shoulder, and there is growing concern whether or not he’ll suffer a setback when he does begin to throw a football.

The plan was to have Tannehill begin throwing on Wednesday when the team starts practicing for next Sunday’s home game against he New York Jets, but coach Adam Gase expressed some reservations about Tannehill throwing, and hinted that he’ll likely be on a pitch count when he does begin throwing footballs.

“He’s close to the stage where he can start throwing soon. I have some time to evaluate,” Gase said Friday. “I’m going to have to get with trainers and say ‘Hey, what’s the best thing to do.’ When we get to that point where we’re actually having practices and he’s going to go, I’ll have a better idea of ‘Hey, he’s thrown this many balls to the trainer or wide receiver staying stagnant.’”

That means it’s possible that Brock Osweiler, who has produced a 93.8 passer rating as Tannehill’s replacement — starting the past three games — could play against the Jets in next Sunday’s home game against Miami’s AFC East division rival.

“I don’t want to put [Tannehill] in a position where he relapses and he’s going through this all over again,” said Gase, whose team is 1-2 in games without Tannehill this season. "I just want to get all the information from the doctors. We're kind of in uncharted waters. We don't know how his body will react."

Gase stressed that Miami’s coaches and the medical staff need “open and honest feedback” from Tannehill about his injury.

The Dolphins have now played 23 games without Tannehill, who has been Miami’s starting quarterback since 2012, which is the year the franchise made the former Texas A&M standout the team’s first-round selection and named him the starter.

Tannehill has completed 65.9 percent of his passes this season, throwing for 972 yards (7.5 yards per attempt) and eight touchdowns. He’s thrown five interceptions and has been sacked 11 times. He owns a 92.9 passer rating for the five games he played in.

Osweiler struggled in Thursday night’s performance against the Houston Texans, where he completed 21 of 37 passes for 241 yards (65.3 passer rating) in Miami’s 42-23 loss.

Osweiler was sacked two times and threw one interception, and many of his completions were offtarget as well.