Tua Tagovailoa Will Play Against Joe Burrow, Bengals

The Dolphins quarterback has dealt with a back injury since Sunday.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa officially will start in this week’s Thursday Night Football game vs. the Bengals, per ESPN’s Field Yates.

Tagovailoa will face his fellow 2020 NFL draft class member Joe Burrow in Cincinnati.

The Dolphins have a plan in place in case Tagovailoa is not able to finish the game on Thursday night. They activated rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson, and he will ack as the third-string behind Teddy Bridgewater, per Pro Football Focus’s Ari Meirov.

 7th-round rookie QB Skylar Thompson active for tonight's game, so there is some insurance behind Teddy Bridgewater in case something pops up with Tua.

The Miami star was questionable on Wednesday as he continued to recover from a back injury he suffered on Sunday vs. the Bills. 

Tagovailoa was hit by Bills linebacker Matt Milano late in the second quarter and was seen stumbling after the play. He left the game and cleared concussion protocol, eventually returning to lead Miami to a 21–19 win over Buffalo. After the game, the quarterback addressed the concussion protocol and told reporters his back “locked up” after the hit, causing him to stumble.

The NFLPA reportedly is investigating the Dolphins’ handling of Tagovailoa’s concussion protocol, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. 

With just four days of rest this week, Tagovailoa did “everything he could” to play in the primetime game against Cincinnati.

The Dolphins head into the matchup on Thursday as one of the two remaining undefeated teams in the league. The Bengals are coming off their first win of the season, a 27–12 victory over the Jets.

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