As he continues to recover from his latest concussion, Tua Tagovailoa faces an unclear return timeline. When addressing the situation on Monday, though, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel expressed for the first time his expectation the team’s franchise quarterback will return this year.
“I do expect to see him playing football in 2024,” McDaniel said (via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques). “But where that is, exactly — we’ll let the process continue, since we still have time before he can even entertain anything. We’ll make sure that he’s diligent this week and assess after that.”
Indeed, Tagovailoa is not eligible to suit up until Week 8 at the earliest since he is on injured reserve. A return at that point has been raised as a possibility, although McDaniel added Tagovailoa will continue meeting with concussion experts over the coming days. It is not known at this point if the 26-year-old will return to practice next week, the first point at which he will be able to do so.
Still, Tagovailoa has made positive strides in his recovery, leading to optimism he will be healthy and able to play at some point later in the campaign. Getting the Pro Bowler back in the fold at any time will mark a notable boost to Miami’s offense, a unit that has struggled in his absence. Former seventh-rounder Skylar Thompson and later Tyler Huntley (added off the Ravens’ practice squad) have guided the Dolphins to low-scoring outputs since Tagovailoa went down. The Dolphins currently sit at 2-3 on the year with a league-worst average of 12 points per game.
McDaniel confirmed Huntley will remain atop the depth chart for the time being, and coming off the team’s bye he could face increased expectations regarding his level of play in an offense he is still acclimating to. How Tagovailoa fares over the immediate future will be critical, though, as the Dolphins approach the point at which he could return to practice. If all goes well, he should be back on the field before the end of the campaign.
