Tyler “Snoop” Huntley expected to start against Browns

Tyler “Snoop” Huntley will be given another opportunity to prove he’s the ideal backup for the Miami Dolphins.

Huntley will replace Tua Tagovailoa as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, which still has playoff ramifications heading into the 4:05 p.m. kickoff.

Tagovailoa was surprisingly listed as doubtful because of a hip injury he suffered two weeks ago in Miami’s loss to the Houston Texans, and that forced Huntley into the starting lineup with Skylar Thompson serving as his backup.

Huntley started three games for the Dolphins earlier this season when Tagovailoa was sidelined for a month because of a concussion he suffered in a week two loss to the Buffalo Bills. During that stretch the former Baltimore Ravens backup, who was added to the roster in the first month of the season, struggled executing an offense he had just learned, and led Miami to a 1-2 record.

During that stretch of games, which ended when Huntley suffered a shoulder injury in a 16-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts and got placed on injured reserve, Huntley completed 59.1 percent of his passes, throwing for 377 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Huntley also gained 67 rushing yards and scored one rushing touchdown on 17 carries, but the Dolphins had the worst offense in the NFL during their stretch without Tagovailoa.

Huntley recently leapfrogged Thompson as Miami’s backup quarterback, and that led to Thompson’s release and addition to the practice squad. However, to position Thompson to play against the Browns the Dolphins elevated the former Kansas State standout up from the practice squad.

Considering Tagovailoa’s hip injury is progressively getting worse it’s possible that Huntley or Thompson will have to finish the season, replacing Tagovailoa in next week’s regular season finale against the New York Jets.

The Dolphins have a 6-5 record with Tagovailoa as the team’s starter.

Also not participating in Sunday’s game against the Browns is Jaylen Waddle, who practice this week on a limited basis because of the knee injury he suffered in Miami’s loss to the Texans two weeks ago. But Waddle wasn’t cleared to play against the Browns. Malik Washington, River Cracraft and Dee Eskridge will share Waddle’s workload as the receivers who complement Tyreek Hill and tight end Jonnu Smith.

Miami will also be playing without starting cornerback Kendall Fuller, who was placed on injured reserve because of a knee injury, and starting inside linebacker Anthony Walker Jr., who had a knee injury flare up this week. Tyrel Dodson will replace Walker as the inside linebacker paired with Jordyn Brooks. And rookie cornerback Storm Duck will replace Fuller as the boundary cornerback used when Miami’s in the nickel package. However, expect him to split the workload with Kader Kohou.

Cornerback Nik Needham, pass rusher Mohamed Kamara, center Andrew Meyers and receiver Erik Ezukanma, who was signed to the 53-man roster on Saturday, were also made inactive.