Tagovailoa will get plenty of time to progress through concussion protocol.
The Miami Dolphins have placed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Injured Reserve while progressing through concussion protocol.
First reported by Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Tagovailoa will be first eligible to return in week eight when the Dolphins take on the Arizona Cardinals. The IR stint gives the Dolphins quarterback time to recover and plenty of time to meet independent neurologists for multiple opinions on his future in football.
Sources to me and @RapSheet: The #Dolphins are placing QB Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve in order to give him ample time to progress through the stages of concussion protocol and meet with outside neurologists.
The earliest Tagovailoa could return is Week 8 against the… pic.twitter.com/8n8t16qyK8
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 17, 2024
The concussion Tagovailoa sustained on Thursday Night Football last week, paired with the two documented concussions of two years ago, means the Dolphins want to give Tagovailoa as much time as needed to recover.
Tagovailoa has recently said that he has “no plans to retire,” so placing him on IR will allow him to progress through the protocols without the weight of potentially playing weighing on him. Now, he can focus on his health over the next five weeks.
His injured reserved stint is five weeks instead of the normal four weeks due to the Dolphins having a bye week within that span, so the designation stays on for another week.
In the meantime, the Dolphins will roll out Skylar Thompson as the starting quarterback, with the recently signed Snoop Huntley backing him up.
Over the next four games, the schedule for Miami appears somewhat soft. The next four games will be against the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, and the Indianapolis Colts. There are no “gimme games” in the NFL, but if there’s a part of the schedule you’d want this injury to land on, this is it.
All four games are winnable and could give Tagovailoa substantial time to charge his battery. If Thompson can lead the team to at least a 2-2 record over these next four games, it’ll set the Dolphins up for a late run toward the playoffs with a rested Tagovailoa.
In the wake of another concussion, the soft part of the schedule, coupled with ample time for Tagovailoa to rest up and get right, is a small silver lining for the outlook of the Miami Dolphins 2024 season.