Mike McDaniel isn’t focused on specific timelines regarding Tua Tagovailoa’s return, but he did provide an update on the Dolphins’ starting quarterback as the team enters its bye week.
“There’s some expert consultation that he has scheduled for this week,” McDaniel said Monday, “and then we’ll address — the final stages of protocol won’t be achieved until we bring him back off IR (injured reserve).”
Tagovailoa was put on injured reserve on Sept. 17 after suffering his third diagnosed concussion in two years during a game against Buffalo in Week 2.
McDaniel explained that Tagovailoa will need to practice before he can clear the concussion protocol. When asked if the team has been advised to keep Tagovailoa out longer even after he’s cleared, McDaniel said he has received “nothing negative” from the experts.
“But we’re still in the process,” McDaniel added. “We don’t rush that process, and we don’t try to do anything that negatively impacts that.”
For now, the Dolphins are sticking with Tyler “Snoop” Huntley as their starting quarterback.
Huntley seemed much more at ease in his second start for Miami, completing 18 of 31 passes for 194 yards in a 15-10 victory over New England.
It wasn’t the Dolphins’ best performance, according to McDaniel and the players, but it was a win that Huntley said “everybody in the locker room needed” after a three-game losing streak.
“We just had to overcome our mistakes,” Huntley said, “and we knew once we overcame them, we were going to do good things. We just have to hone in on the details, and it will be better.”
