Tua Tagovailoa Misses Another Start Sunday, Injury Question Persists

One of the questions about Tua Tagovailoa during his draft evaluation process coming out of the University of Alabama centered around his durability.

Well, that concern is proving fair as the quarterback the Dolphins drafted with the No. 5 overall selection in 2020 is about to miss his fourth start of the season because of injury.

Tagovailoa has a fracture in the middle finger of his throwing hand which limited him in practice all of last week. The Dolphins have decided he will not start on Sunday against the Houston Texans as a result, per a club source. Coach Brian Flores said during the week he was optimistic Tagovailoa would play against Houston.

Tagovailoa is active but will not be used barring an emergency.

This will be the fourth start of the season Tagovailoa misses as he missed three starts earlier while on injured reserve, as he nurses cracked ribs.

The injury also leaves uncertainty about Tagovailoa's status for the Dolphins next game -- at home Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens.

Jacoby Brissett starts for the Dolphins against the Texans. It will be his fourth start of the season. The Dolphins, 1-7, have not won any game Brissett has started.

The Dolphin -- regardless of whoever is in charge -- will evaluate Tagovailoa's 2021 performances after the season, as they will all players. The fact the quarterback missed nearly half of the team's first nine games is not going to be considered a plus.

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Armando Salguero is a national award-winning columnist and is OutKick's Senior NFL Writer. He has covered the NFL since 1990 and is a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a voter for the Associated Press All-Pro Team and Awards. Salguero, selected a top 10 columnist by the APSE, has worked for the Miami Herald, Miami News, Palm Beach Post and ESPN as a national reporter. He has also hosted morning drive radio shows in South Florida.