Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle’s update on injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was “same old.”
“Me and Tua talk every day,” Waddle said about his former Alabama and current Miami teammate. “He’s always around, and, yeah, we’re normally just talking ball, going through practice, things like that.”
Tagovailoa left the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 12 with a concussion. The quarterback’s injury caused heightened concern because he had sustained two concussions during the 2022 season that caused him to miss five games.
Miami placed Tagovailoa on injured reserve on Sept. 17, forcing the quarterback to the sideline for at least four games.
That required period of inactive will end after the Dolphins play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
“Tua’s our leader, our captain, so having him back at any point in time would be lovely, obviously,” Waddle said. “He’s got to take care of himself first, but, yeah, we’ve got a game ahead with Snoop (Huntley) at quarterback.”
On Monday, Miami coach Mike McDaniel said he expected Tagovailoa to play again in the 2024 NFL season. But with the opportunity for the quarterback to return to practice arriving next week, McDaniel did not say that he would when asked at his Friday press conference.
“Everything has been the same,” McDaniel said. “There’s been no negative. Everything has been positive each and every day. And then, yeah, you’d be right in that I am focused on the Indianapolis Colts, who we play in 48 hours.”
When Tagovailoa went on injured reserve last month, McDaniel said it would help the quarterback by removing the anxiety of a timeline and allow him to focus on his recovery and his future in football. But there really was a timeline all along – the four games that Tagovailoa had to miss.
“When you have a timeline that you do know you have, like on that week you have to make a decision,” McDaniel said, “you wait all the time you can and then that decision is driven by medical experts. …
“I think Tua has done a great job of getting something out of a situation that is, obviously, not ideal. I think you don’t get to choose what you go through, but you get to choose how you handle things, and he’s been unbelievably diligent. He’s been a leader while doing it. The right thing for the Dolphins with regard to medical things regarding players is based upon the medical expertise, for sure.”
Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith said he expected Tagovailoa would be eager to work whenever he is allowed to return to practice.
“The way he is, I’m sure it’ll be nose to the grindstone, here we go, and making sure that he can be ready to go for whatever the timeline is,” Smith said. “He’s been great in the process and is trying to play … so whenever that happens, we’ll make sure that we do the right things and his return to play is all handled appropriately.”
The Dolphins and Colts square off at noon CDT Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Coming off its bye week, Miami has a 2-3 record but beat the New England Patriots 15-10 in its most recent outing by running 41 times for 193 yards on Oct. 6.
It could be more of the same against the Colts: Entering Week 7 of the 2024 season, Indianapolis had yielded the most rushing yards in the NFL.
“Anything to win,” Waddle said. “It’s all about just getting that win, getting in the win column. If it’s running the ball 40, 50 times, that’s what we have to do. If it’s throwing the ball, if we got to do anything to win at this point – at any point — it’s key.”
Waddle was a 1,000-yard receiver in each of the past three seasons with Tagovailoa as the Dolphins’ quarterback. He started the season with five receptions for 109 yards in a 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 8. But Waddle has 16 receptions for 149 yards in the four games since, and he doesn’t have a touchdown reception this season.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
