MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Even on the best of days, the Miami Dolphins had bad quarterback news.
Tua Tagovailoa, as expected, will return to practice this week. But he might not have Snoop Huntley on the practice field when he does.
Latest on Miami Dolphins QBs Tua Tagovailoa, Snoop Huntley
Huntley injured his throwing shoulder in the second half of Miami’s Week 7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts and did not return. Tim Boyle took his place in the lineup.
Skylar Thompson, who entered the season as QB2 but lost his job due to injury and performance, could be Tua’s backup this week.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel announced Monday that Tagovailoa is indeed returning to football activities this week, and if all goes well, he will play Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
“Any time you have teammates that you grow together with, it feels a little off when he’s not in the mix enough, and I’m not calling plays for him.
“I think it’s meaningful for the whole team, considering he’s been a captain every year I’ve been here. … Across the board, I would think everyone would say that he’s the leader of the team.”
McDaniel said that this is the right week for Tagovailoa to return because the doctors have told him it’s healthy to do so. Since the Dolphins put Tua on injured reserve, he had to miss at least four games. If all goes to plan, he’ll miss just the minimum.
After that, the plan at quarterback is quite muddled.
McDaniel wasn’t prepared Monday to name a backup because it wasn’t clear how serious Huntley’s injury will be.
McDaniel said that during the game, “It went from ‘All right, we’ll keep you updated and abreast,’ to ‘He will not be coming back into the game.’ Still some stuff going on with the evaluation process. I’ll make my determination on that alongside the coaching staff and Chris [Grier]. That will probably come tomorrow.”
Assuming Huntley cannot play this week, the Dolphins will have to decide between Thompson (who has a career 66.1 passer rating) and Boyle (who has a career 57.6 rating).
If any of those three need to play again this year, it’ll absolutely need to be better than what they showed in the 4.5 games that Tagovailoa missed.
“I don’t think anything is good enough in 1-3 football,” McDaniel said.