The Miami Dolphins have placed starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve, which gives his broken ribs four weeks to heal before he’s allowed to play in another NFL game.
Because of the NFL’s new rules specifically catered to address the COVID-19 pandemic, any player placed on injured reserve must sit out three weeks of games. But after that period they are allowed to return to the team unlike in previous years, when they had to sit out at least eight games, and only two players were allowed to return from injured reserve.
That means Tagovailoa, the Dolphins’ 2020 first-round pick, who owns a 7-4 record as Miami’s starting quarterback, will miss the next three games, but is eligible to return for the Oct. 11 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which will be played in London.
Broken ribs generally require at least a month to fully heal, but it’s possible Tagovailoa could practice, and play earlier with the use of a flak jacket, and pain-relieving injections to his rib cage.
“He’s getting a little better every day,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Friday, providing an update on the team’s starting quarterback who suffered broken ribs in Sunday’s 35-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills. “We’re kind of in this-day-to-day space and we’ll have a little bit more time to make a decision, to gather some more information.”
Jacoby Brissett, a fifth-year veteran who was signed this offseason to serve as Tagovailoa’s backup, will start his 33rd NFL game on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-0).
Brissett, a third-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2016, has started 32 of the 51 NFL games he’s played in during his career. He owns a owns a 12-20 record as a starter for the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.
Reid Sinnett, who spent all of last season on Miami’s practice squad and was impressive this preseason, will be elevated from the practice squad before Sunday’s game. Whether or not the former University of San Diego standout will be elevated to the 53-man roster, or simply called up to the active roster before Sunday’s game hasn’t been clarified.
The Dolphins can call up Sinnett from the practice squad only twice this season — unless there are COVID-19 reserve spots created by another player testing positive. Sinnett was called up from the practice squad twice last season, when Tagovailoa injured a thumb and Ryan Fitzpatrick missed the season finale with COVID-19.
The Dolphins will likely add a third quarterback to the roster considering the team is short on arms, and in need of a player to run the scout team offense that prepares the first-team defense for the week. Whether that player is a veteran, a journeyman, or a young developmental player suited for the practice squad hasn’t been clarified.
The Dolphins can claim a quarterback from another team’s practice squad next week, but that type of move would require a four game commitment to keep that player on their 53-man roster. Practice squad players have a week-to-week status. Miami can poach another team’s practice squad player by offering him more money, but teams have the opportunity to match, or improve a player’s weekly practice squad salary.
