DAVIE, Fla. – Miami Dolphins’ rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is considered to be in doubt for Sunday’s game at the New York Jets due to an injured left thumb during Wednesday practice.
Coach Brian Flores said he would need to watch Tagovailoa’s practice film to gauge his effectiveness with that thumb before making a final decision on whether to play on Sunday. Tagovailoa has been training to a limited capacity every day this week and wants to play on Sunday.
“Whenever there is something you have to make a statement,” said Flores. “We have to go see the film and see what it looks like. We just thought ‘questionable’ was the best explanation for it.”
It’s worth noting that there is no longer a “likely” injury label, as Flores alluded to, if there is any chance Tagovailoa might miss Sunday’s game because of the thumb injury, the dolphins would have to list him with an injury label, with “questionable” to be the easiest.
Flores said on Thursday that Tagovailoa was “hit a bit” regarding the thumb injury, but “I don’t think we’re too worried about that either.”
Since Tagovailoa is left-handed, any injury to his left thumb – even a minor one – is worth seeing. Tagovailoa, who was on the bench in the Dolphins’ 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos for the fourth quarter last week, is eager to draw on that feat and expects to start as long as he is considered healthy enough to play .
“I can’t tell Tua or any player exactly what they can or can’t play through,” said Flores. “I know he’s a tough guy. He wants to play and we’ll see how that goes.”
The Dolphins will certainly do without a couple of offensive starters. Salvon Ahmed, who started the last two games, is dismissed with a shoulder injury and right guard Solomon Kindley is unable to play with a foot injury. Recipient Jakeem Grant is questionable with a hamstring injury.
Miami’s back room continues to be a revolving door due to injury and ineffectiveness. Myles Gaskin, who ran the dolphins back for most of the season, was scheduled to leave the injured reserve and return to training in limited capacity this week. But Flores made no commitment when he played the Jets on Sunday, noting that they had to watch the exercise movie to see how effectively he moved on his knee.
The expectation is that Gaskin will be active again this week or next. The final word on whether he’ll be activated for the 53-man roster has to come by Saturday afternoon, and if he can play, he appears to be the Dolphins’ lead. With Ahmed and Gaskin uncertain, veteran Matt Breida and Patrick Laird could be relied on to lead the Dolphins backcourt against the Jets for their sophomore year.
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