Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa is ready to return; will that be enough?

INDIANAPOLIS — So maybe Tua will be back next week, maybe this was the last weekend of what looks like preseason football but really isn’t, and maybe everything will fix itself with the quarterback’s presence when he snaps his fingers .

Here’s something that isn’t a “maybe”: The Miami Dolphins’ season is teetering at 2-4, and players know that if they don’t pile up wins twice as fast as they pile up losses, this will happen. be over before they know it.

Oh, and one more thing, which comes not from a critical member of the media, but from a Dolphins player himself:

“There are a lot of things that need to be addressed and resolved and one coming back will help us quite a bit, but it won’t solve all the problems,” fullback Alec Ingold said after Sunday’s 16-10 loss to the Dolphins. to the Indianapolis Colts, another very average team that beat Miami. “…There is no more room for mistakes.”

More: Report card for the Miami Dolphins for their loss to the Indianapolis Colts

Although coach Mike McDaniel wouldn’t talk about it after the game, rumor has it that Tua Tagovailoa could come off injured reserve after another concussion and start next Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. McDaniel could make this official when he addresses reporters on Monday, which is crucial given the state of the Dolphins’ quarterback room without him. (Miami’s top other option, Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.)

The rosy way to look at this is that the Dolphins would get their franchise quarterback back, a Pro Bowl QB no less, which would be a boost for any team. His first act of magic should be making Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle no longer invisible, but we’ll get to that.

The Dolphins offense has struggled even with Tua Tagovailoa

The hard truth is that anyone expecting Miami’s offense to automatically kick back into overdrive – could score 70 points on any given Sunday! – overlooks how this offense sputtered to the finish in 2023 and fared no better in the 1 1/2 games Tagovailoa played to start 2024. In four of those five games, Miami failed to score twenty points.

What am I saying that after five weeks of being rusty, Tagovailoa can fulfill McDaniel’s ideal vision for the offense as quickly as possible? Anthony Richardson, the Colts’ QB, was out for two weeks, returned Sunday and went 10-for-24.

There is still time. Some time. The Dolphins have eleven games left to play and in their recent past they have made their winning streaks less likely than perhaps even now. The problem is, they have road trips to Buffalo, the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay in just over a month.

Someone asked Ingold how this team can climb out of its hole.

“We need to start climbing and stop digging,” he said. “And I think that’s the theme of the week. That’s the theme of the season: We can’t keep digging this hole for ourselves. We have to start climbing. And everyone needs to grab ladders, drop the shovels and get to work.”

No, Ingold didn’t say any of this while excusing himself. He made a fumble in the second half that could have made the difference in the minutes after Raheem Mostert had done the same. It was little consolation to either of them that it was characterless. They did it on this day, when the team could least afford it, and that was all that mattered.

“I didn’t execute when my number was called and that’s not the standard,” Ingold said. “That’s not what I’m proud of.”

Mostert: “I just have to do better.”

Has anyone spotted Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle?

Better only begins to describe what is expected of Miami’s two-star receivers, Hill and Waddle. Both caught just one modest pass to two stingy targets after spending much of the afternoon flirting with being left out altogether. Hill has been held to 40 yards or less in four of the past five games. We don’t know how Hill feels about it, how optimistic he might be about Tagovailoa’s return or, honestly, anything else related to the current state of affairs. Both he and Waddle left the locker room without speaking to reporters, as required by the league, although Waddle reconsidered and later spoke on stage.

“For us, it’s all about winning, so we were in shape to win by running the ball and that’s what we leaned on,” Waddle said.

That’s actually the biggest change to the offense that should offer hope. When the backs held the ball they were remarkably effective, carrying 40 – wait, 40? – times for 188 yards, an average of 4.7. Do this once, whatever. But this is two weeks in a row, a growing trend, as the Dolphins defeated lowly New England last week by rushing 41 times for 193 yards.

McDaniel pointed out how important his two receivers were in blocking for the backs and that “contrary to popular belief” they did so on every play. That’s probably not what Stephen Ross has in mind when he signs their checks, but we digress.

Perhaps no one was more excited about the ongoing success than Tagovailoa himself.

“He’s definitely telling us … that even if I come back, we’re going to continue to play that ball like that,” left tackle Terron Armstead said.

So imagine the dolphins rushing somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 yards. Imagine Hill and Waddle looking like, well, Hill and Waddle. And assume Tagovailoa is healthy again after sorting out the issues.

“He’s a franchise guy for a reason, so there’s no doubt that if we can get our leader back, there’s going to be a lot of healing going on,” Armstead said.

A lot, maybe. Possibly. Probably.

But not all.

Not in itself.

Dolphin reporter Hal Habib can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.

Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa is ready to return; will that be enough?

The Dolphins offense has struggled even with Tua Tagovailoa

Has anyone spotted Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle?

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