Mixed Signals Regarding Tua's Availability
Tua Tagovailoa will start at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins against Cincinnati on Sunday.
Or maybe he won't and instead he's miss his second consecutive game because of the thumb injury he sustained in practice 10 days ago.
The rookie first-round pick's status remained as big a mystery Saturday afternoon, though maybe a couple of developments offered a club.
The first is that unlike last week before the Dolphins faced the New York Jets, the team did NOT downgrade him from questionable to doubtful the day before the game.
Then there was a Facebook post by Tagovailoa's agent Leigh Steinberg, who wrote, "FLYING TO MIAMI TO SEE TUA PLAY BENGALS."
Not long after, Steinberg wrote another post, saying, "FLYING TO MIAMI TO SEE DOLPHINS PLAY BENGALS" before eventually removing both posts.
The one sign that would suggest that Tagovailoa would NOT start against the Bengals is the fact he was limited in practice all week, just as he was before the game against the Jets.
That usually is a sign of a quarterback who will not be playing.
Of course, maybe the biggest clue of all will come around 4 p.m. when we find out whether the Dolphins elevate quarterback Reid Sinnett off the practice squad the way they did for the Jets game so he could serve as the backup for Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Head coach Brian Flores gave few clues — more like none at all — during the week about Tagovailoa whenever he was asked, which was basically every day.
For their part, the Bengals prepared all week for the possibility of facing either quarterback.
"There's enough tape on both of them to have a sense for them," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "They've got two really good players who can win football games for them. Obviously, Fitzpatrick, we've seen him a lot over the years. Tua, we studied him a lot in the offseason. There's some tape on him this season. Whoever they roll out there, we'll be ready for them, but they have good, quality players at that position."
Tua, of course, hasn't played since he was benched during the 20-13 loss against the Denver Broncos after he completed 11 of 20 passes for only 83 yards in the first three quarters plus one series.
