Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa will likely miss Browns game with a hip injury

The Miami Dolphins chances against the Cleveland Browns just got a bit slimmer.

Less than 24 after being listed as questionable, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was downgraded to doubtful with a hip injury Saturday afternoon. The designation likely means Dolphins backup quarterback Tyler Huntley will start Sunday against the Browns.

This comes just weeks after Tagovailoa initially injured his hip Dec. 15 against the Houston Texans. The franchise quarterback took another big hit during last Sunday’s matchup versus the San Francisco 49ers. When asked about the injury earlier this week, however, Tagovailoa downplayed its severity.

“I mean it’s good,” Tagovailoa said Thursday. “It’s just like anyone else on the team and anyone else around the league. You get banged up little bit towards the ending of the year so just got to take care of that.”

Coaches shared a similar sentiment the week of the Niners game.

“December football, everyone’s working through stuff going to the game,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said Dec. 19, later adding that “there’s no concern for us.” “If you’re feeling completely healthy in December, you probably haven’t played a whole lot. We’re just working through with the process to the game and I’m confident we’ll be ready to go when Sunday comes.”

“Frank was not wrong,” coach Mike McDaniel said Dec. 20. “It’s something that in December football, there’s a lot of those things where players across the board are getting dinged and you have to be able to executive with those things. He’s certainly not made an issue for this week’s prep.”

It’s no secret that McDaniel tailor-made his offense for Tagovailoa. So when a concussion in Week 2 landed the former Alabama quarterback on injured reserve and caused him to miss four games, the offense looked extremely underwhelming, averaging roughly 11.5 points and 274.5 total yards per game during his absence. Take out rushing yards and that number decreases to 136.5. For context, Tagovailoa has averaged roughly 260.6 yards through the air in 2024.

“I think it’s really tough to ask any of our quarterbacks to come in to do the footwork that we’ve been doing for the past two years, to see fast guys running and seeing the space that’s there and asking them to kind of process all of that,” Tagovailoa said Oct. 21, just days before he was officially activated from IR.

Part of the Dolphins’ struggles during that time was the instability at quarterback. Miami rotated three — Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle and Huntley —at the position in an attempt to jumpstart the offense yet nothing truly worked. Thompson suffered a rib injury against the Seattle Seahawks and was replaced by Boyle. The Dolphins subsequently brought in Huntley and started him over Boyle within two weeks of him joining the team. While the Broward native led Miami to a victory over the New England Patriots, Huntley injured his shoulder the end of the Indianapolis Colts game and was replaced by Boyle who failed to execute on a potential game-winning drive.

Thompson, of course, started the season as Tagovailoa’s backup. But after the former Kansas State quarterback’s poor showing against the Seahawks — just 107 passing yards on 68% completion prior to the injury — and his botched handoff in the Nov. 24 Patriots game that led to a defensive touchdown, McDaniel named Huntley the second-string quarterback for the rest of the season.

“It’s supremely important that the backup quarterback is a leader that his teammates believe in,” McDaniel said Friday. “I think it’s one of the reasons why [Huntley] won the job during the season, and I think he exemplified the characteristics that were reminiscent of what we had the last couple years. Specifically, it reminded me of Teddy [Bridgewater] and how guys, the second you go in, they believe that you won’t miss a beat.”

Huntley’s increased familiarity with the offense should bode well against the Browns. He has now been with the Dolphins since Sept. 16 and although the career backup quarterback had a mid-season stint on IR due to the aforementioned shoulder injury, it gave him the opportunity to better understand the offense’s subtle nuances.

“Just being able to get into the offense a little bit differently rather than trying to learn it and then go out there and do it at the same time,” Huntley said Dec. 5, describing what he learned from watching Tagovailoa at the helm. “I could just sit back. I learned it a little bit more. Now I get to go out and feel actually comfortable in there.”

A one-time Pro Bowler during the 2022 season, Huntely has completed roughly 64% of his passes for just under 2,350 yards and nine touchdowns. He has thrown eight interceptions but also rushed for a little more than 575 yards and four scores.