Tua Tagovailoa will not start for the Dolphins on Sunday when they host the Houston Texans in Miami, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The second-year quarterback is dealing with a small fracture in the middle finger of his throwing hand and it has not recovered enough to allow him to start in Week 9. The injury is not expected to keep Tagovailoa out long-term, but, because the team has a quick turnaround with a Week 10 game against the Ravens on Thursday night, his status for that game is also in question.
While Tagovailoa, who was listed as questionable for this game due to that finger injury, will not start, he is expected to be active on Sunday against Houston and serve as the backup to veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
This will be Brissett's fourth start of the season as he previously stepped in when Tagovailoa missed three games due to a rib injury. Miami was 0-3 over those starts under Brissett, but the 28-year-old did play well, completing 66.9% of his throws and averaging 229.7 yards passing per game to go along with four touchdowns and one interception. Brissett will now face a Texans defense that ranks 16th in the NFL in DVOA against the pass, but Miami could look to exploit a weak Houston run defense that ranks 31st in the league.
Meanwhile, this latest injury is another chapter in Tagovailoa's rocky start with Miami. The former first-round pick has struggled to stay healthy and has been inconsistent when under center. Tagovailoa will need as much playing time as possible the rest of the way to further convince the Dolphins, who are 1-7 on the season, that he can be their franchise quarterback beyond 2021. With him backing up on Sunday, it certainly puts him behind the eight-ball in that endeavor.
