The day after their upset victory against the Baltimore Ravens, the Miami Dolphins' quarterback situation remains murky and a hot topic of conversation.
The Dolphins have some extra days before they face the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in Week 11, but now they're dealing with two injured quarterbacks. Make that two injured quarterbacks still able to play, which is what created a whole lot of chatter Thursday night.
Tua Tagovailoa missed a second consecutive start because of the fracture on the middle finger of his throwing hand, but he again served as the backup and entered the game after Jacoby Brissett sustained a knee injury while being sacked on third down.
Brissett's injury didn't appear serious because he was given the go-ahead to return to the game the next time the Dolphins had the ball, only to have head coach Brian Flores tell him he was going with Tagovailoa.
That, of course, got social media buzzing, wondering why Tua would be OK to go into the game but not OK to start.
FLORES TRIES TO EXPLAIN
Flores has tried his best — after the game Thursday and again Friday morning — to explain a complicated situation that essentially boils down to not wanting to put Tagovailoa in harm's way, while also mentioning the ability to make all throws.
And, as fate would have it, Tagovailoa did have to deal with some pain when his left hand hit a Baltimore defender following through after a pass attempt.
“Jacoby was banged up yesterday; same with Tua," Flores said. "I thought Tua did a good job of fighting through the discomfort. We all saw him bang his finger, too, in the game, which that’s kind of what we were trying to avoid.
"I think the situation with Tua, obviously I’ve said many times that he’s our quarterback. I said this last night, we try to protect players from themselves. (We were) trying to avoid that situation with him banging his finger last night. We’ve got to take it day-to-day with both players and see how that goes."
TUA TIME
By all logic, Tagovailoa needs to be the starting quarterback for this team if for no other reason than he needs to be developed and evaluated as much as possible the rest of the 2021 season.
He's also been more effective than Brissett this season in a comparable body of work, each quarterback having started five games.
Tua's return to the lineup was a big story Thursday night, though we'll say here his contributions to the victory were overblown, highlighted by NFL Network/FOX naming him the Player of the Game against Baltimore.
Let's be clear, it was the defense that won the game against Baltimore, not anything or anybody on offense.
That said, Tua was efficient after replacing Brissett and made some key throws, evidenced by his 104.0 passer rating, though his 64-yard completion to Albert Wilson was more about Baltimore blowing a coverage than any great effort by either quarterback or receiver.
Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey suggested after the game that Tua gave the offense "some juice" when he entered, except that the Dolphins gained 21 yards in their first two drives after the QB change.
The Dolphins did get going in the third drive when Jaylen Waddle got himself wide open downfield on a deep crosser and Tua hit him for a 35-yard gain.
But that drive ended with a field goal and it was when Xavien Howard scored on a fumble return that the Dolphins got some cushion.
The bottom line is that it's possible to acknowledge and respect what Tagovailoa did in relief of Brissett while also not blowing out of proportion.
NO DOLPHINS QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY
Flores also made it a point Friday morning to make sure everybody understands there's no great conspiracy against Tagovailoa, that the decision to have him not start the past two games wasn't part of some plot to keep him down.
"I think people are trying to turn this into a controversial situation where we don’t want a certain player to play," Flores said. "I try to look out for the best interest of the players individually, the team. All those things play a role in the decisions we make and that was the case last night.”
It will be the case again next week, which means that if Tagovailoa can play without putting himself at risk, he'll be in the starting lineup.
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