Tua Tagovailoa could be back soon, but the Dolphins have plenty to fix even if he returns
Tua Tagovailoa could be back for the Miami Dolphins soon — a welcome sight for a team that has struggled offensively with four quarterbacks taking snaps this season.
Regardless of who is under center, coach Mike McDaniel knows his team is far from where it needs to be.
"We will never feel good about our football unless we clean up errant snaps over somebody's head, missed snap on a field goal, a blocked punt, an explosive run touchdown," McDaniel said Monday as Miami headed into its bye week.
He was referring to the Dolphins' ugly win over the New England Patriots last Sunday that was filled with mishaps.
The Dolphins (2-3) have floundered since Tagovailoa was concussed in Week 2 against Buffalo and placed on injured reserve. He's not eligible to return until Week 8.
Miami's struggles have been caused by a combination of injuries, procedural mistakes, an inconsistent run game and a lack of production by its offensive stars.
After leading the NFL total in offense last season with more than 400 yards per game, the Dolphins are 21st through five weeks and have scored a league-worst 12 points per game.
Most pressing for McDaniel is cleaning up pre-snap penalties and operational miscues that nearly derailed their chances at beating the Patriots. The Dolphins were flagged six times for 54 yards.
"To win a grimy game that isn't perfect is a step in the right direction," McDaniel said. "Now, how do we take control over the controllables? That's the most important thing for us moving forward, building upon the growth of the team. But we have a long ways to go and some time to do it, so we'll keep chopping wood every day."
The Dolphins' offense uses pre-snap shifts and motions to get receivers open, but Miami players have struggled with getting set at the snap, resulting in frequent illegal shift penalties.
Left tackle Terron Armstead said some penalties can be traced to the different tendencies of quarterbacks.
Tyler "Snoop" Huntley has started the past two games. Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa against the Bills and started Week 3, has been out with a rib injury.
There has been miscommunication between Huntley and his receivers as the former Ravens quarterback adjusts to a new offense. Huntley had a snap go over his head for a 20-yard loss on Sunday after center Aaron Brewer thought he heard a cadence from the quarterback and mistimed the snap.
"There's a lot of nuances in an offense, especially when you have a lot of motions, you have a lot of personnels," Armstead said. "You have quarterback changes, so the cadence could be different. He might hold the cadence longer than others, or he wants to operate faster than Tua or maybe Skylar. So the illegal formation, illegal shift, guys are taking their time getting set as opposed to Snoop being in more of a hurry — we got to get set off of him. So those (are) small little details or nuances that nobody really pays attention to until it's a problem."
McDaniel said after Miami's Week 4 loss to Tennessee that he would consider dialing back some of the motion, among other offensive changes, in response to the poor on-field results, but he clarified that it's not as simple as just abandoning what's not working.
"For us, we're always looking at the entirety of what the plan needs to be," he said, "what it needs to be focused around and then what things can we adjust to play to what our players are doing well. So there's a little bit of outside the box. There's a little bit of adjustment in types of things you're doing."
One adjustment that worked was committing to the run against New England.
The Dolphins were averaging just 97.8 yards per game entering that matchup, as the offensive line struggled to create lanes and Raheem Mostert, their leading rusher from 2023, was out with a chest injury.
Miami seemed to lean on a formula that worked by being physical in its rushing attack. The Dolphins ran the ball 41 times for 193 yards, including a run-heavy 15-play drive that led to the go-ahead rushing touchdown.
"That's just something that needs to be a staple for us moving forward," Armstead said. "We have to be able to establish that run game, no matter the opponent, no matter what day we play on, that has to be a part of our offense."
After the bye, three of Miami's next four games are on the road. Out of the Colts, Cardinals, Bills and Rams coming up on their schedule, only Buffalo has a winning record through Week 5.
