Tua Tagovailoa was listed as a limited participant in Miami Dolphins practice on Wednesday after suffering a hip injury.
The starting quarterback’s fitness concern comes as a huge blow to Miami three days after their 20-12 defeat to the Houston Texans, which has left their playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
With a 6-8 record, the Dolphins need a miracle heading into the final three weeks of the regular season, making Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers a must-win.
Yet there are fears they could again be left without Tagovailoa, who missed four games with concussion earlier in the season before returning at the end of October.
After going 1-3 in his absence, Mike McDaniel’s team have gone 4-4 since their quarterback’s return to leave themselves with a mountain to climb in the playoff hunt.
They were also dealt another injury blow in Sunday’s defeat to the Texans when receiver Grant DuBose was down on the turf for close to 15 minutes after taking a blow to the head.
Tua Tagovailoa was listed as a limited participant in Miami Dolphins practice on Wednesday
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Grant DuBose's season all but over as Miami Dolphins make announcement after horrifying head injury
The game was stopped for over 12 minutes while medics worked on DuBose, before he was carted off the field and transported to the local hospital.
As they knelt over him, doctors reportedly unscrewed his helmet and applied an oxygen mask.
He was hooked up to an EKG machine as he left on a backboard, with his neck in a brace.
Medical personnel working on DuBose cut his uniform top off of him. They eventually placed him on a board before putting him on the stretcher and wheeling him off the field and taking him to Memorial Hermann Medical Center.
Yet after spending three days in the hospital, the 23-year-old was expected to return home Wednesday. A day earlier, he was placed on injured reserve to bring his 2024 season to an end.
Following his teammate’s sickening injury, Tagovailoa blamed himself for putting DuBose in harm’s way.
‘I’m my toughest critic when it comes to ball placement, when it comes to knowing where to go with the ball and all of that,’ he said in his post-game press conference.
It’s the latest blow for the Dolphins after receiver Grant DuBose was carted off on Sunday
Tagovailoa blames himself for the frightening hit that sent teammate DuBose to the hospital
‘And I just feel bad that I even put him in that situation to have gotten hit. It was tough to move on after that happened.’
Tagovailoa is unfortunately familiar with the severity of head injuries, as he’s been diagnosed with three concussions in his NFL career and has faced calls to retire for his own safety.
On DuBose, he continued: ‘I heard some good news that he’s doing well, he’s recovering, but we all know I’ve gone through something very similar, and that’s no fun. You never want to be put in any of those situations.
‘But you also understand that this is a physical sport, it’s a contact sport. And again, I just think of what I could have done to have not put Grant in that situation.’