Mike McDaniel addresses timeline around Tua Tagovailoa return

Miami Dolphins (2-3) quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will play again at some point this season, the big question is exactly when.

Ahead of his team’s Week 7 road matchup against the Indianapolis Colts (3-3), head coach Mike McDaniel was asked about a possible timeline for Tagovailoa’s return. McDaniel, as he has stated before, said he will leave it in the hands of medical experts to decide when it’s safe for Tagovailoa, who suffered a concussion in Week 2, to return to game action.

“When you have a timeline that you do know, you do have on that week — you have to make a decision,” McDaniel said Friday. “You wait all the time you can and then that decision is driven by medical experts. And then in conjunction with the whole communication of the whole team and obviously Tua, with medical experts in a timeline that’s not ideal for anyone.

“Say the best thing would be with the information they had at the moment to do X, I’m happy with X because the idea is that people especially in the business of having expertise, I don’t ask the doctors for play calling advice, so I’m not gonna supersede a medical expert.”

Dolphins offense struggling without Tua Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa, 26, remains on injured reserve. He is eligible to return to practice on Oct. 23, though time will tell if he actually does or not. McDaniel has continued to refer to the medical experts and is not rushing him back despite Miami’s offense floundering without Tagovailoa under center.

The Dolphins have started Skylar Thompson and now Tyler Huntley in place of Tagovailoa. The offense, No. 1 ranked in 2023, has fallen of a cliff in 2024. Miami is averaging just 12.0 points per game through five games, worst in the NFL.

There’s no doubt the Dolphins would be better off with a healthy Tagovailoa throwing passes to Tyreek Hill and co. Again, we will see that again eventually, but it won’t be this week against the Colts.

“Tua’s done a great job of getting something out of a situation that is obviously not ideal,” McDaniel said. “You don’t get to choose what you go through, but you get to choose how you handle things. He’s been unbelievably diligent. He’s been a leader while doing it.”