The 3 words no one with the Dolphins wanted to see just resurfaced for the first time ahead of Week 6
If you thought it was bad so far, let’s hope this turns out to be a nothing-burger.
There’s not much the Miami Dolphins can hang their hats on with the start of the 2025 season. The team sits at 1-4. Some of the young standouts that were premium investments have struggled thus far. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill is out for the season, and the Dolphins’ transition on defense has been a disaster thus far.
But there’s a new development that could dwarf many of Miami’s issues — one that includes three words no one in this organization hoped to see this season. Those words showed up on the Dolphins’ first injury report of Week 6:
‘Tua Tagovailoa – hip’
Tagovailoa was listed as limited with not only a hip ailment, but also a thumb injury on his throwing hand.
Tua Tagovailoa appears on Dolphins’ Week 6 injury report with hip, left thumb issues
The Dolphins released their first injury report of the week on Wednesday evening, and it included a surprising inclusion of Tagovailoa, who was listed as a limited participant for Wednesday’s practice with a hip and a left thumb designation.
For what it is worth, Tagovailoa conducted his post-practice press conference on Wednesday afternoon with no apparent ailments — so this isn’t to say that Tagovailoa’s status is in trouble for Week 6, when the Dolphins host the Los Angeles Chargers. Offensive coordinator Frank Smith said on Thursday morning that he expects Tagovailoa to play.
Tua Tagovailoa’s 2025 passing statistics
- 1,008 passing yards (6.7 yards per attempt)
- 10 passing touchdowns: 4 interceptions
- 70.7% completion percentage (106 completions on 150 attempts)
- 100.1 passer rating
But Tagovailoa’s appearance on the injury report with a hip is notable given his history. Tagovailoa’s junior season at Alabama was cut short due to a dislocated hip — an injury that required surgery to repair and left his draft status and stock in major question until the Dolphins selected him with the fifth-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
There were no public ailments tied to Tagovailoa’s hip until he took a helmet to his torso against the Houston Texans in Week 15. He played the following week against San Francisco, but the injury to that region was reaggravated against the 49ers, and he didn’t play in the final two games of 2024.
Is this the same hip? Is it a related issue? Is it general soreness? Was it just treatment for soreness, or is there a structural concern? Most limited participations in practice don’t facilitate these kinds of questions.
Still, most quarterbacks don’t have a dislocated hip on their resume, nor are they coming off missing the end of the prior season due to a hip injury that was only vaguely described as the situation unfolded. Plus, the quarterback publicly promised to play if the team qualified for the playoffs, but missed a “must-win” game to make the playoffs.
Everyone in Miami needs wins, and fast. There is no sure-fire way to ensure that wins won’t come for Mike McDaniel than to introduce a quarterback change to the mix. So, until we learn more about the nature of Tagovailoa’s ailment, it is worth monitoring. It could easily be nothing at all. But recent history suggests there’s a higher chance it’s not — at least compared to other quarterbacks.
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