Tua Tagovailoa ruled out vs Buffalo Bills, what does this mean for Miami?

Mike McDaniel announced in the presser of Wednesday, January 11th, 2023 that Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa has been ruled OUT. What now for Miami?

The Miami Dolphins are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and just the third time this entire century of the 2000s. The Dolphins had an already very tough match vs the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in the Wildcard, now that QB Tua Tagovailoa has been ruled out the road for Miami is much much steeper.

What does Tua Tagovailoa being OUT vs Buffalo Bills mean for the Miami Dolphins?

This is a question that has a lot of twists and turns even beyond the Playoff game coming up vs the Buffalo Bills. First and obvious is how this affects the game, Mike McDaniel said that the Miami Dolphins are moving forward with Skylar Thompson as the starter since Teddy Bridgewater is still healing from a pinky injury.

Do the Miami Dolphins have a chance vs the Buffalo Bills?

No. Next question, please.

If by any insane possibility, the Dolphins somehow win then I will happily eat all the crow you all leave in the comments section. But let’s be real, we might have a better chance of winning the lottery than this football game if Skylar Thompson is playing QB.

Not a slight to Thompson, he’s a 7th round rookie who wasn’t supposed to see the field this year, yet he’s gotten tossed to the wolves many times. It’s not his fault that he looks completely undercooked.

On to THEE important question, what does Tua’s future look like with Miami?

I mentioned earlier this week on Twitter how the window for Tua playing vs the Buffalo Bills looked really good, what was a 13.5-point spread in favor of Buffalo came down to 9.5 with rumors of Tua possibly being cleared for the wildcard round.

However, after Tua Tagovailoa was ruled out the reportings unveiled something much more worrisome.

Tua also has not been cleared for phase 3 of the concussion protocol, so he might not be able to travel with the team. After three weeks in the protocol, Tua still can’t even get on a plane? That’s worrisome.

Could it be that the Miami Dolphins and doctors are taking one hundred more precautions due to the optics on the team with Tua and his concussions? Or has Tua received damage much more serious than we’re led to believe?

Only the Miami Dolphins building has the answer to these questions based on what the doctors have told them in-depth, and based on that, Stephen Ross will have to make a very tough decision. Does he want to keep Tua? or move on?

If the answer is sticking with Tua, then the possibility of repeating “the Ryan Tannehill story” gains another chapter to its series.

If the answer is moving on, let me introduce you to a QB I’ve been studying for the last few weeks, in case you haven’t seen him.

Enter stage, UNC Tarheels QB Drake Maye.

Follow me on Twitter @3rdnJuan for more Miami Dolphins content.