Updating the injury status of Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, Eli Apple, and Joe Mixon ahead of Thursday’s Dolphins at Bengals game.
The Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals kick off Week 4 of the NFL season with a Thursday Night Football meeting. Both teams are coming off Week 3 wins, with Miami moving to 3-0 on the season while the Bengals won their first game of the year, improving to 1-2 for the season. Now the two teams take center stage in a primetime showdown.
The Dolphins will be playing the game without two tight ends, Cethan Carter and Hunter Long, both of whom were ruled out of the game on Wednesday’s injury report. Carter has been sidelined since Week 1 when he sustained a concussion. Long injured his ankle in practice between Week 1 and Week 2 and has not been available since then.
Miami listed seven players as questionable for the game, a group headlined by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Dealing with both ankle and back injuries sustained in the team’s Week 3 win over the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa is has been limited in this week’s practices. He is expected to start later tonight, but a setback to either injury could cause the Dolphins to sideline their quarterback. Also listed as questionable were tackle Terron Armstead, defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, cornerback Xavien Howard, safety Brandon Jones, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, and wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, Jr.
Armstead has been dealing with a toe injury throughout most of the season, keeping him from practicing most of the time. On game day, however, Armstead has been on the field, starting at left tackle, and locking down that side of the offensive line. Howard sustained a groin injury earlier this season and has been playing his way through it, but added a glute injury to the list this week. Waddle landed on the injury report this week for the first time as he deals with a groin issue. Davis is dealing with a knee issue, while Jones has a chest injury, and Wilson has been fighting through injured ribs and a toe issue.
The Bengals injury report included ruling out defensive tackle D.J. Reader and tight end Drew Sample. Both players are dealing with knee injuries. The team listed offensive tackle La’el Collins (back) and linebacker Germaine Pratt (knee) as questionable for tonight.
While they had been listed on the injury report throughout the week, Bengals cornerback Eli Apple (ankle) and running back Joe Mixon (ankle) both seem ready to play tonight.
Kickoff for tonight’s game is at 8:15 p.m. ET from Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium.