Thumb injury might sideline Tua Tagovailoa against Jets on Sunday
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is sacked by Denver Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Walker on Sunday in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
Earlier this week, the Jets weren’t sure who their starting quarterback would be. Now the Dolphins face a similar scenario.
Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa has a left thumb injury after reportedly jamming it on a helmet in practice Wednesday. He was listed as questionable Friday.
"I know he’s a tough, tough kid. He wants to play," Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Friday. "We’ll see how this goes."
If Tagovailoa is out, former Jet Ryan Fitzpatrick likely will start.
"I know what type of athlete [Tagovailoa] is," linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. "We game-planned for the possible situation . . . of both quarterbacks playing. We still have Game 1 to look at of Fitzpatrick playing, and we have film from the last couple of weeks when Tua has been back there, so we’re ready for both."
Adam Gase said of Tagovailoa: "He does have an ‘it’ factor to him because there’s something about him. He finds ways to move the ball. The right thing happens at the right time for those guys when he’s in there."
Line play could be key
Jets offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said the performance of the offensive line could be a key.
"That’s going to be one of the biggest storylines of the game is how well we handle that stuff [up front]," he said. "We took a step in the right direction the last time we played those guys, but it wasn’t good enough because we didn’t win the game."
Loggains and Gase acknowledged the Dolphins’ talented cornerbacks, Xavien Howard and Byron Jones.
"They paid a lot of money for those back-end guys to be able to play Cover 1 and Cover 0 [defenses] and put the stress on those guys," Loggains said. "I think we’ve gotten better at that and it’ll be another great challenge for us this week versus a good defense."
Running back by committee
There’s no magic formula to the Jets’ running game. La’Mical Perine was put on injured reserve Tuesday, so it’s all hands on deck.
"We’re going to try and get all those guys involved," said Gase, who mentioned Frank Gore, Ty Johnson and Josh Adams. "Obviously, you don’t want Frank taking 30 touches. We’ll rotate all those guys in there. It’s all about the flow of the game, the play count and how each series is going."
