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Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
MIAMI — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will get ready this week as the crew’s starter for Sunday evening’s sport towards the Pittsburgh Steelers, trainer Mike McDaniel mentioned, marking his go back to the soccer box after spending the previous two weeks in concussion protocol.
Tagovailoa started soccer actions final week and cleared concussion protocol Saturday, however used to be inactive for the Dolphins’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6. McDaniel mentioned he felt “really good” about getting Tagovailoa again at the follow box and preferred how he answered. This will mark his first complete week of follow since Week 3 and McDaniel mentioned the have an effect on of his go back to the lineup is palpable.
“He’s a captain. He’s a captain for a reason, and as I’ve told you guys from the onset, I think he’s a very, very good player at that position,” McDaniel mentioned. “So very good players, they definitely give people a boost — not because of what other people aren’t but more just because he is who he is. So he’s a strong fabric of this team, and that’s exciting when you get to go play with one of your brothers, which is why the team will be excited, and it will be exciting.”
Tagovailoa hasn’t performed since Miami’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 29, when he sustained a concussion that led to a short lived hospitalization after hitting his head at the floor. The play came about 4 days after a an identical incident towards the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 25, when Tagovailoa hit his head at the floor and stumbled whilst attempting to go back to the huddle.
He used to be evaluated for a concussion at halftime of that Bills sport, however handed his exam. Both Tagovailoa and the crew later clarified it used to be a up to now sustained again harm that led to the stumble.
The Dolphins misplaced each video games Tagovailoa ignored, bringing their report to 3-3 after beginning the season with 3 immediately wins. At the time of his harm, Tagovailoa led the NFL in QBR and ranked 2d in passing yards and 3rd in passing touchdowns. He used to be named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week in Week 2 after throwing for 469 yards and six touchdowns — each career-highs — in a comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens.
McDaniel mentioned he is spoken with Tagovailoa about discovering the steadiness between combating to stay a play alive and studying when to just accept {that a} given play isn’t going to paintings.
“There’s risks in this game and you’ve got to be able to control the controllables,” McDaniel mentioned. “One thing for him is you love his competitive nature, but there is a time in a play where you have to kind of concede, and that’s where he’s kind of been focusing on because it’s something that’s not natural to him. He wants to break every tackle, and he doesn’t like when plays don’t work. Well, sometimes they won’t.
“So that is one thing that he is conscious of, and I believe that that is a consistency of the entire in reality nice quarterbacks that you just recall to mind, the fellows that you just glance as much as, the fellows that roughly set forth the instance of the best way to play the placement, they do in finding techniques to be to be had. And a part of this is that concession, however this is — all issues thought to be, that is most certainly a excellent drawback to have in relation to a competitor. You simply want with the intention to perceive your significance to the crew and the way now and again the most efficient play you’ll make is a throwaway.”
Miami’s offense has seen a sharp decline without Tagovailoa on the field. Through the first three weeks of the season, the Dolphins ranked first and second in the league in points per drive and offensive expected points added, respectively. In the time since, they’ve fallen to 28th in offensive EPA and 29th in points per drive.
Both Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson started games in place of Tagovailoa but both were forced out of their lone starts due to concussion protocol and a thumb injury, respectively. Dolphins offensive lineman Robert Hunt said after Sunday’s game that injuries are “a part of the trade” of the NFL, and added Monday that while getting Tagovailoa back would be galvanizing, they have a job to do no matter who is at quarterback.
“Tua is Tua — Tua is our chief,” Hunt said. “He’s the man who has been working the display and we’re going to be excited to get him again. But precisely what you mentioned — if now not and it is someone else again there, we nonetheless were given to do our process and take a look at to play a sport and win a sport.”