Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa headed to IR, out until Week 8

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be placed on injured reserve, according to the Miami Dolphins.

This comes less than a week after Tagovailoa sustained a concussion during the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The franchise quarterback will miss the next four games and be eligible to return after the Dolphins’ Oct. 20 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.

Tagovailoa went down in the third quarter of Thursday’s game against the Bills when he attempted to scramble on a crucial fourth down near the red zone. While diving headfirst for the first down marker, Tagovailoa collided with Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s abdomen. Tagovailoa laid on the ground for several minutes after the hit but was able to walk off the field on his own.

“It’s just an unfortunate situation,” fullback Alec Ingold said after the Bills game, later adding “You always take every game as an opportunity to do what you love to do and what you’re made to do. You hope everything moving forward can be as positive as possible, uplifting every single human being in this locker room, praying for safety and health for everybody on the field always. Obviously it’s tough to see your leader go down like that.“

The latest concussion was Tagovailoa’s third in two years. After speculation swirled that the former Alabama star would retire, Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Tagovailoa will meet with concussion specialists with the hope of returning to the field.

“My understanding is Tua Tagovailoa has no plans to retire,” the NFL Network insider said. “No plans to retire. His eyes are ready on returning to the football field. As far as when that goes, we simply do not know. Every concussion is different.”

Coach Mike McDaniel wasn’t necessarily a fan of the retirement rumors, explaining Friday that it does his franchise quarterback more harm than good.

“It would be so wrong of me to sniff that subject,” McDaniel said Friday when asked about Tagovailoa’s potential retirement. “It’s more in line with actually caring about the human being. You’re talking about his career. His career is his.... Bringing up his future is not in the best interests of him. I would plead with everyone that generally cares that that should be the last thing on his mind.”

With Tagovailoa headed to the injured reserve, the Dolphins have only two healthy quarterbacks on their roster: Skylar Thompson and Tyler Huntley, who the team signed off of the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad on Monday. A third quarterback, Tim Boyle, remains on the practice squad.

Thompson and Huntley haven’t particularly wowed as starters — they each have sub-.500 records — but the latter does have a Pro Bowl appearance after taking over for an injured Lamar Jackson with the Ravens in 2022. Huntley’s ability to step up in Jackson’s absence was one of the aspects that appealed to the Dolphins, McDaniel said Monday afternoon, though he remained committed to Thompson as the starter.

“He was replacing the league MVP,” McDaniel said, “and you could tell from far away that he was a guy that the team absolutely believed he could lead them to victory. I think that’s a very huge tangible thing for a non-QB1.”

Added McDaniel: “This was not a move in any way shape or form is not any direct reflection as Skylar as Tua’s backup. This was more for the depth. I do think that it helps the dynamics of the room and to give another guy with starting history to this team.”

The concussion couldn’t have come at a worse time for Tagovailoa. After leading the league in passing and making his first Pro Bowl in 2023, Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in the early days of training camp.

“Now that all of this is done, this is behind us, we know heavy is the crown, so whoever’s wearing that,” Tagovailoa said at the time. “Like right now, I’m the highest paid employee in this in this office. I’ve got to get my whatever together, I’ve got to get that right and get our guys moving in the direction that we need to go, to be able to do those things.”