Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa out with fractured ribs, Jacoby Brissett to start vs. Raiders
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained fractured ribs in the team’s 35-0 home loss to the Buffalo Bills and won’t play in the Week 3 game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, head coach Brian Flores announced Wednesday.
While an NFL Network report indicated that Tagovailoa only sustained bruised ribs, Flores said further tests in the days after the injury revealed the latest diagnosis. Jacoby Brissett, who entered the game for Tagovailoa, will start, and Reid Sinnett, who is currently on the practice squad, will be the backup.
“This is a tough kid,” Flores said of Tagovailoa. “He wants to play. He’s actually trying to play, and we’re just going to save him from himself a little bit on this and hold him out this week and then take it week to week from there.”
Tagovailoa sustained the injury on the second possession of the blowout defeat last Sunday. Facing fourth-and-2, Tagovailoa was hit on an incomplete pass attempt by Buffalo defensive end A.J. Epenesa, who sped past right tackle Jesse Davis. Tagovailoa was carted off to the locker room and didn’t return to the game.
“He’s better but still dealing with some pain, and we’ll take it one day at a time,” Flores said.
Flores was noncommittal when asked whether Tagovailoa would be placed on injured reserve, which would sideline him for at least three games. If Tagovailoa is placed on injured reserve, the Dolphins could elevate Sinnett to the active roster twice and allow him to revert to the practice squad without having to clear waivers. However, under NFL rules, after the two free call-ups, when a practice squad player is elevated to a team’s active roster, he must first clear waivers before signing back to the practice squad. The Dolphins could also opt to sign Sinnett to the active roster but would have to make a corresponding move and release a player to make room.
Brissett, 28, signed a one-year deal worth $5 million in March to join the Dolphins. He completed 24 of 40 passes for 169 yards and one interception and was sacked four times against the Bills. Despite the inability to finish drives with points and playing under constant pressure allowed by a struggling offensive line, Brissett graded out as an average-level quarterback, according to Pro Football Focus, 17th out of 34 qualifying quarterbacks.
Quarterbacks coach Charlie Frye said Tuesday that practice time during training camp would be helpful for Brissett; during the summer, the Dolphins often practiced on both of their outdoor practice fields, with the first-team offense facing the second-team defense, and first-team defense facing the second-team offense, led by Brissett.
“He was coming in and getting our defense right, our first-team defense,” linebacker Jerome Baker said, “and coaching us, telling us what he sees. He’s just been like that the whole year. He’s definitely helped us and now we’re excited, he gets his shot to be the first-team quarterback. We all believe in him.”
Baker said the experience of Brissett, a six-year veteran, is the biggest difference between Tagovailoa. “Jacoby has seen a lot more defense, so he knows little things,” he said.
After the loss to the Bills, Brissett said he always viewed himself as a starter and with Tagovailoa out for the foreseeable future, Brissett will be moved into that role. Brissett, a West Palm Beach native, is 12-20 as a starter, playing for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. He last made a start in Week 17 of the 2019 season.
Flores and Brissett said the full week of practice repetitions would be beneficial for building chemistry between the offensive line and receivers after Brissett had to enter the Bills game with limited practice time.
“It makes a tremendous difference,” Brissett said. “You are getting those reps with the guys and you can talk through things that you not only see but you feel when you’re out there. I think that’s just been the most important thing from today, just us getting on the same page, not only from the physical part but the mental part.”
With Brissett under center, the Dolphins’ RPO-heavy offense that features short passing isn’t expected to change much, if at all, and his playing style might not make for much deviation anyway. Through two games, Tagovailoa has averaged 4.5 air yards per completed pass, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, which ranks seventh fewest in the league among 33 qualified passers. Brissett averaged 3.8 completed air yards, which ranks third-fewest among qualified passers.
“It’s not my offense or Tua’s offense. It’s the team,” Brissett said. “We’re going to go as the team goes, not as the quarterback goes or whatever position goes. We’re going to go as we go. And that’s what I relayed to the guys, that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about who’s starting at quarterback. It’s about us understanding the objective that week. It’s about us every week and we’ve got to go take care of our business.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 3:57 PM.
