The latest on whether Tua Tagovailoa will play vs. Chargers despite hip, thumb injuries
After a few warm-up throws, Tua Tagovailoa flexed his left hand.
Then came a wobbly ball on his first pass to a receiver. Soon, however, the spiral began to tighten. Once again, Tagovailoa was back to being himself.
Although Tagovailoa has a left thumb and hip injury, he is expected to play Sunday vs. the Los Angeles Chargers, per Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith. This comes less than 24 hours after the franchise quarterback popped up on Wednesday’s injury report as a limited participant with an ailing hip and left thumb. Although it’s unclear whether the latest hip injury was related to the one that prematurely ended his 2024 season, Smith deemed the situation part ”of just playing quarterback.”
“He’s working through stuff, and we’re not overly concerned,” Smith said of Tagovailoa’s thumb, adding that “we’re not anticipating any setbacks” with either injury, both of which could significantly impact the quarterback if severe.
Tagovailoa is left-handed, meaning that an injury could certainly hinder his passing ability.
Arguably more serious, however, would be the hip injury. Not only did the former University of Alabama standout require a surgery to repair his hip during his final collegiate season in 2019, Tagovailoa missed the final two games of 2024 after he got hit in the same area during the Dolphins’ 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans. At the time, coach Mike McDaniel assured that the two injuries were not related to each other.
“They’re unrelated and there’s no causation involved in it,” McDaniel said in late December 2024. “It’s a fair question, but they are unrelated in terms of really the nature of that injury versus this.”
The decision to sit Tagovailoa, according to McDaniel, was more preventative than anything else. Tagovailoa confirmed a similar sentiment a few days later as the doctors wanted “to give it as much time to heal.”
“The one at Alabama was definitely a lot different,” Tagovailoa said in January 2025, “but I would say this was probably the more challenging one that I had to go through out of all the injuries. With my ankle, playing a week out of surgery, like it wasn’t as bad as what this one feels like.”
Tagovailoa later stated that it took until February for his hip to heal. And while the one-time Pro Bowler wouldn’t go into detail about the specifics of his injury, he did share strategy to stave off its return.
“I think that if I can protect myself better,” Tagovailoa said in June, “but outside of that, I don’t think so.”
At 1-4, the last thing that the Dolphins need would be an injury to Tagovailoa. Although he had a disastrous season opener against the Indianapolis Colts in which sixth-year veteran committed three turnovers and completed roughly 61% of his passes for just 114 yards and a touchdown, he has since turned it around. During the past four games, Tagovailoa has completed 72.4% passes for nearly 900 yards and nine touchdowns to just two interceptions — albeit a pair of very costly ones.
If Tagovailoa does miss time, 2021 first-round pick Zach Wilson would likely step in to run the offense. The Dolphins specifically signed Wilson to a one-year, $6 million deal for just that, as the journeyman quarterback has started 33 games with the New York Jets and Denver Broncos. Wilson, however, owns a 12-25 record as a starter.
The former Brigham Young University star has a career completion percentage of 57% to go along with 6,325 yards. Unfortunately, Wilson has tossed more interceptions (25) than touchdowns (23).
Wilson’s only run during the 2025 season came in relief of Tagovailoa during the final moments of the 33-8 loss to the Colts. He completed 5 of 8 passes for 32 yards.
This story was originally published October 9, 2025 at 11:14 AM.
