Is Tua Tagovailoa playing today? Injury update on Miami Dolphins quarterback

Is Tua Tagovailoa healthy? He sure looked it in the Miami Dolphins’ win last week. Is Tua playing today vs. the New England Patriots?

The quarterback suffered at least his third career concussion on a hit in Week 2. Tagovailoa was placed on injured reserve as some questioned whether his injury history would lead him to retire.

Tua returned to the Dolphins four weeks ago and even played again vs. the Buffalo Bills, the team that gave him the earlier concussion. He was hit on the head while making a tackle during a Monday Night Football game, but against the Las Vegas Raiders last week, Tua threw for three touchdowns to keep Miami’s playoff hopes alive at 4-6.

Watch Dolphins vs Raiders live on Fubo (free trial)

The QB’s return has sparked new life into Tyreek Hill, De’Von Achane, Jonnu Smith and the Dolphins offense, which took a major hit in his absence. Here’s what we know about Tua’s injury status, his concussion history and whether he is playing today vs. the Patriots:

Is Tua playing today?

Yes. Tua returned October 27 in a 28-27 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and has played every game since. In last week’s 34-19 win over the Raiders, Tua went 28 of 36 for 288 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He was sacked twice for 17 yards and fumbled once.

Over his first four weeks back, Tua is 101 of 130 (77.69%) for 960 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception. For comparison, Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle and Tyler Huntley combined to put up 637 yards on 67-of-111 passing (60.36%) with one TD and one INT in four games without him. Tua also has six rushes for 15 yards and has been sacked seven times, and he’s fumbled five times, losing one.

Tua said before his first game back that he didn’t consider retiring after his latest concussion and that he’d been symptom-free since the day after the injury.

“I think the team did what was best in the interest of me knowing that I’m a competitor and given what the doctors have told me, that having a substantial amount of time to rest and recover would have been good for me,” he said. “I think they did what was best in terms of protecting myself from myself.”

His Dolphins teammates were elated about getting Tua back. “Strike up the (bleeping) band,” Tyreek Hill said. “We’re back, baby.”

Who is the Miami Dolphins quarterback today?

Tua Tagovailoa will start. His backup will be Skylar Thompson.

Before Tua came back, in an Oct. 20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Tyler Huntley was the Dolphins starting quarterback, going 7 of 13 for 87 yards and a touchdown, adding 20 rushing yards. Tim Boyle came in after Huntley suffered a shoulder injury, finishing 8 of 13 for 74 yards. Thompson was the emergency third-string QB, missing his third straight game with injured ribs.

Huntley has been on injured reserve since the end of October. That leaves Thompson as the only other QB on the active roster. Boyle was released to make room for Tagovailoa on the active roster. C.J. Beathard, who was on the Dolphins practice squad, has been signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence injured.

Will Tua wear a Guardian cap?

The NFL this season allowed players to wear Guardian caps, covers that include a soft layer of foam placed over a regular football helmet, during games. They have become standard in practices across football as a preventative measure against head injuries. Running back De’Von Achane became the first Dolphin to wear a Guardian cap in a game Oct. 20 vs. the Colts; Achane suffered a concussion in the previous game.

Tagovailoa has not worn a Guardian cap in any of his four games back, saying it was a personal choice. He said he would adjust by playing smarter and taking more calculated risks on the field.

“I love this game,” Tua said Oct. 21, “and I love it to the death of me.”

What happened to Tua Tagovailoa?

After throwing an interception Monday night, November 11, Tua Tagovailoa went to tackle Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom by diving for his legs. As a result, Rozeboom’s knee hit the quarterback square in the side of the helmet.

Tua didn’t appear injured on the play and came back onto the field the next possession, but the play was worrisome because of his history with concussions. On a fourth-down play late in the third quarter Thursday night, September 12, Tua scrambled up the middle for a first down. He dove into Bills safety Damar Hamlin with his head hitting the defender’s chest and then hitting the ground.

Tua’s arms froze in the air in what neurologists refer to as the “fencing response,” a sign of head trauma. He was able to walk off the field and did not return to the game. He was later diagnosed with a concussion, his third official concussion in the past three seasons.

Tua was placed on injured reserve September 17, automatically taking him out of the Dolphins’ next four games.

How many concussions has Tua had in his lifetime?

September 12 was Tua’s third registered concussion, though there is speculation that he had a fourth. In 2022, during the Dolphins’ Week 3 game against the Bills, the back of Tua’s head hit the ground hard after a hit by Matt Milano. The quarterback stumbled while he got up, and he briefly exited the game. McDaniel said Tua was checked by an independent neurologist and was out of the NFL’s concussion protocol the following day. The injury was initially announced as a head injury, but that was later changed to a back injury.

Four days after that game, Tua had an even scarier injury on Thursday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals. In the second quarter, the quarterback was slammed hard to the turf and he lay there afterward with his fingers seemingly frozen in the air for several seconds. He wound up missing the next two weeks after the Bengals game.

Ten weeks after he came back, Tua suffered another head injury against the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day. He briefly exited that game before returning. After the game, he was diagnosed with another concussion. Tua would miss the last two games of the regular season, as well as the Dolphins’ first playoff game since the 2016 season.

“I don’t want to be known as the poster boy for concussions,” Tua said in an interview aired before the Monday Night Football game November 11.

Tua Tagovailoa injury history

Tua did not have a history of concussions before entering the NFL, but his college football career at Alabama was derailed by injuries. After subbing in for Jalen Hurts at halftime to win the 2018 national championship game, he suffered a high-ankle sprain during the following year’s SEC championship game. He got “tightrope” surgery and was back for the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff run less than a month later.

After returning from another sprained ankle in 2019, Tua dislocated his right hip on what turned out to be the last play of his college career. Reports said he was “screaming in pain” on the field before being carted to the locker room. The injury caused him to fall from the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Dolphins at No. 5.

In the NFL, Tua has missed 13 regular-season games across his first five NFL seasons, plus one playoff game. He played all 17 games plus the playoff game in 2023. He missed four games this season while on IR.

Miami Dolphins depth chart

Here’s a look at the quarterback on the Dolphins roster, along with their injury status:

Where to watch Dolphins vs Patriots: Time, TV channel, streaming

Dolphins vs. Patriots will broadcast nationally on CBS in Week 12 of the 2024 NFL season. Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta will call the game from the booth at Hard Rock Stadium, with Aditi Kinkhabwala reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include Paramount+, CBS’ subscription streaming