Dolphins’ Flores addresses Tagovailoa, Fuller injury, potential offensive line changes
Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Tuesday that Tua Tagovailoa has made progress but remains limited with his fractured middle finger on his throwing hand and his status for Thursday’s game against visiting Baltimore remains in question.
Jacoby Brissett would start again if Tagovailoa cannot.
Flores said Brissett would have started if the game were played on Tuesday night. Tagovailoa will be the backup if he cannot start on Thursday, Flores said.
Flores said Tagovailoa threw yesterday “looked good. somewhat limited. We will take it day to day and see how he looks today and tomorrow and take it up to the day of the game. Swelling is down. Getting better. Still some limitations for sure.”
“Health of the player and whether Tua can do all the things we need him to do to have success in the game. Short week, knowing the discomfort. We’ll always do what’s best for the team. He’s doing everything he can to get back. There’s still time. It’s still 48 hours from the game. It’s a medical decision, team decision. I have a lot of say in that.”
Tagovailoa missed the Houston game after sustaining the finger injury in the Buffalo game. Flores said he wasn’t able to make all of the downfield throws needed in Miami’s offense, which doesn’t throw deep open.
Tagovailoa previously missed nearly four games this season because of fractured ribs.
Flores addressed other issues:
▪ Receiver Will Fuller’s finger injury was significant, Flores said. He will miss his sixth game in a row on Thursday.
“He’s made a lot of progress; there’s favorable news last couple of days,” Flores said. “Hopeful we can get him back out there quickly. He’s been working.”
▪ Asked if the Dolphins will stick with this offensive line configuration another game in light of their struggles, Flores would not commit to that and implied changes are coming.
“Definitely a lot of conversation there,” Flores said. “We had a walk through yesterday. We have a little more pace [Tuesday night]. We’ve had conversations about moving some guys around.”
Austin Jackson, Liam Eichenberg and Jesse Davis are tied for the NFL lead in quarterback pressures allowed (37 apiece).
“There are other instances we can help the situation by getting rid of the ball, stepping up in the pocket,” Flores said. “We’ve got to do a better job of not allowing as many pressures. Run the football better so we don’t have to pass it as many times.”
Asked about navigating the decision of giving young linemen time to grow but also not tolerating poor play, Flores said:
“It’s a fine line. Young guys need reps to get better. But we also want to win and have success. Those guys need to step up and play better. We need to do a better job of coaching them. It’s important to them; they’re working hard to get it right.”
Rob Hunt - asked if he has played right tackle at all in practice this week - said he has not, that he’s still at right guard.
“We’re pissed off about the performance Sunday,” he said. “We hear the noise. We want to be good. We try to keep each other up and we are keeping each other up.”
INJURY UPDATE
The Dolphins were scheduled to do a walk-through on Tuesday, but the team said four players would have been limited if they had practiced fully: Tagovailoa, safety Brandon Jones (ankle), linebacker Jerome Baker (knee) and safety Elijah Campbell (toe).
Center Greg Mancz (ankle) would not have been able to practice and is unlikely to play Sunday, according to Flores.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 1:13 PM.
