Dolphins activate quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for Sunday’s game

The Miami Dolphins will have Tua Tagovailoa back under center for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars after the NFL team activated the quarterback from injured reserve on Saturday.

The former Alabama All-American sustained fractured ribs when Buffalo defensive end AJ Epenesa slammed Tagovailoa down as he threw a pass on the Dolphins’ ninth offensive snap against the Bills on Sept. 19.

The injury sent Tagovailoa to injured reserve for the next three games, but he returned to practice this week, the earliest he could do so under IR rules.

Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, Tagovailoa’s former Alabama teammate and current Miami teammate, said on Friday the quarterback had looked “good.”

“Tua has stepped in and just been him,” Waddle said.

After winning their season-opening game 17-16 against the New England Patriots on Sept. 12, the Dolphins have lost four in a row – 35-0 to the Bills, 31-28 in overtime to the Las Vegas Raiders, 27-17 to the Indianapolis Colts and 45-17 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – with Jacoby Brissett taking all the snaps since Tagovailoa went down.

WILL TUA TAGOVAILOA’S RETURN SAVE THE DOLPHINS’ SEASON?

Only the New York Jets, with 67, have scored fewer points than the Dolphins’ 79 this season.

Brissett has completed 103-of-158 passes for 858 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions and run for 57 yards and one TD on 16 carries since taking over for Tagovailoa. Brissett’s passing-efficiency rating of 82.2 ranks 28th among the 32 quarterbacks with at least 70 passes this season. He’s ahead of four rookies – the Houston Texans’ Davis Mills, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields and New York Jets’ Zach Wilson.

Tagovailoa had completed 17-of-31 passes for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception and run for one touchdown in 2021 before his injury.

Tagovailoa joined Miami as the fifth player picked in the 2020 NFL Draft. He started nine games as a rookie as the Dolphins doubled their 2019 win total with 10 victories last season. Tagovailoa completed 186-of-290 passes for 1,814 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions and ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries in his first NFL season.

“I think my message is always the same to him -- clean operation, in and out of the huddle, be clear with the play call and then go through his progression one play at a time,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said on Friday. “And he has a specific progression that he goes through. And then take the plays that are there. If there’s an opportunity for a big play, try to make it. Don’t try to force anything.

“And it’s not a one-man game. We’ve got 53 guys on the team over there to support and help him, and he’s there to support and help the rest of his teammates.”

The Dolphins and Jaguars are scheduled to kick off at 8:30 a.m. CDT Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. CBS will televise the game.

Jacksonville has lost its past 20 games, the second-longest losing streak in NFL history.

With eight sacks, the Jaguars defense ranks next-to-last in the league in 2021 for taking down the opposing team’s quarterback. Miami quarterbacks have been sacked 16 times, the fourth-most in the NFL this season.

“I had a rib-cage protector when the incident happened, but we’ve made some adjustments to what I’m going to wear,” Tagovailoa said on Friday.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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