Tua Tagovailoa was initially 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, but the news on Wednesday is much worse. Tagovailoa was carted off the field after getting hit by Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa during Miami’s second offensive drive. Head coach Brian Flores said Wednesday that the team received the results of additional tests and the former first-round pick suffered fractured ribs — then ruled him out for the Dolphins’ battle in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
That will insert Jacoby Brissett as starting quarterback until further notice, and he might find himself taking the field behind a shuffled offensive line — after Flores saw what happened to Tagovailoa in Week 2.
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 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.