Tua Tagovailoa was labeled as “day to day” by Dolphins coach Brian Flores a day after the Dolphins’ quarterback exited his team’s 35-0 loss to the Bills with a rib injury. Tagovailoa was carted off the field after getting hit by Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa during Miami’s second offensive drive.
Flores revealed that Tagovailoa tried to get back into Sunday’s game despite being in a significant deal of pain. He said Tagovailoa might practice with the aid of a flak jacket on Wednesday in preparation for the Dolphins’ upcoming game against the Raiders. Follow-up X-rays on Tagovailoa’s rib were negative, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“We’re still running some tests,” Flores said of Tagovailoa, via Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “He was in a lot of pain yesterday. He’s still in some pain today. We’ll call him day to day.”
Tagovailoa was sacked twice while completing just one of his four pass attempts prior to exiting Sunday’s game with his rib injury. He was replaced by veteran Jacoby Brissett, who was 24 of 40 for 169 yards and an interception in Sunday’s loss to the Bills. It was a rocky day for the Dolphins’ offense, as the unit tallied just 13 first downs and 216 total yards. Miami also committed three turnovers and failed to score in each of its three trips inside the Bills’ 20-yard-line.
“We didn’t play well in any area,” Flores said after the game, via ESPN. “We beat ourselves. Penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles and that starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job. I’ve got to do a better job of getting us ready to go and that wasn’t the case today. Give Buffalo credit. They’re a good team. They played well in all three phases. But we need to do a much better job from an execution standpoint.”
The Dolphins’ next opponent is a confident Raiders team that improved to 2-0 on the season following their 26-17 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh. While Derek Carr’s historic start has garnered most of the headlines, the Raiders’ defense has also played an integral role in the team’s early success. The unit held the Steelers’ offense to just 17 first downs in Sunday’s win. They also allowed Pittsburgh’s offense to drive inside their 20-yard-line on one occasion.
