Dolphins plan to have Tua Tagovailoa start vs. Steelers; plus McDaniel updates other injuries

As the Miami Dolphins turn the page on the loss to the Minnesota Vikings and prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, it appears the team remains on track to have quarterback Tua Tagovailoa make his return.

“The plan is for him to approach the game as the starter,” coach Mike McDaniel said of Tagovailoa on Monday. “He’ll be able to get those [practice] reps on Wednesday. I felt really good about how he was able to get back on the field.”

Tagovailoa was cleared from concussion protocol on Saturday, but the Dolphins never planned to play him on Sunday against the Vikings. He progressed through protocol to practice throughout the past week, on a limited basis on Wednesday and Thursday before going through a full practice workload on Friday.

McDaniel noted that it was critical for Tagovailoa to get through protocol, see specialists and practice all last week before another full week of drills, especially since he last had a full week of practice ahead of the Sept. 25 game against the Buffalo Bills.

“He responded real well in his exuberant self, and we’ll be excited to see him practice on Wednesday,” McDaniel said. “And I know the team will be, as well.”

Added right guard Robert Hunt: “Tua’s Tua. Tua’s our leader. We’ll be excited to get him back.”

Tagovailoa’s return comes just in time to give the Dolphins a jump-start back in the right direction. Since his concussion suffered in the second quarter of the Sept. 29 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Dolphins are on a three-game losing streak that followed their 3-0 start.

“He’s a captain for a reason,” McDaniel said. “I think he’s a very, very good player at that position. Very good players, they definitely give people a boost — not because of what other people aren’t, but just because he is who he is. Strong fabric of this team. That’s exciting when you get to go play with one of your brothers, which is why the team will be excited.”

McDaniel said he doesn’t anticipate any rust in Tagovailoa’s mechanics.

“He was really the same guy,” McDaniel said upon watching his return to practice. “He didn’t start throwing right-handed, so that was a good thing.”

There’s talk internally of getting Tagovailoa to a point where he better protects himself on the field after his back-to-back games against the Bengals and Bills where he took a blow to the head, plus other injuries sustained earlier in his career.

“You love his competitive nature, but there is a time in a play where you have to concede,” McDaniel said. “That’s where he’s kind of focusing on because it’s not natural to him. He wants to break every tackle, and he doesn’t like when plays don’t work. Well, sometimes they won’t.”

Other injuries

After the news of cornerback Nik Needham’s torn Achilles on Sunday that will end his season, McDaniel said Needham is indeed going on injured reserve Monday.

“He’s in good spirits,” safety Brandon Jones said. “He was so locked in going into the game. I knew, without the injury, he was going to have a huge game.”

The loss of Needham, who was carted off the field on Sunday, adds to the Dolphins’ injury woes at cornerback.

They haven’t had Byron Jones even come back to practice while on the physically-unable-to-perform list for offseason lower left leg surgery. Kader Kohou missed the loss to the Vikings. The team got All-Pro Xavien Howard back from missing the previous week’s loss to the New York Jets, but Keion Crossen also went down Sunday with a knee injury.

McDaniel is cautious not to put an injury timeline on Crossen because he has seen him recover quickly.

“He’s one of the fastest healers that I’ve ever been around,” McDaniel said. “He’s shown that in the couple of opportunities he’s had since he’s been here. We’ll reassess midweek, only because it’s hard to nail that down.”

McDaniel said he doesn’t think the Dolphins will send Jones out to begin practicing this week.

“It is a big deal to put someone out there on the field, a cornerback that’s trying to perform at a high level, with a lower-body extremity injury,” he said. “We’ve been judicious with it. … We’re really just trying to do it the right way, and it’s hard to know fully when that’s going to happen.”

McDaniel noted the Dolphins will continue to take Jones’ rehab “week by week.”

Brandon Jones said of Byron: “Byron’s been around. He’s like a teacher these days. He’s in there when we’re watching film, when we meet as a defense and as DBs and putting his input in, asking questions. Just being very involved with what he can. … He’s definitely making strides to be able to come back whenever he’s ready.”

With the Dolphins trying to get their starting tackles back to relieve struggling backups Greg Little and Brandon Shell, McDaniel said it’s possible to get one or two back between left tackle Terron Armstead and right tackle Austin Jackson.

McDaniel said he feels good about the point Armstead reached by Sunday, despite not playing in the game. He’s day to day, according to McDaniel.

On Jackson, who has been on injured reserve for five weeks with an ankle injury, McDaniel highlighted how ankles are tough for heavy offensive linemen. Jackson hasn’t had setbacks, and the team is monitoring him this week.

Quarterback Skylar Thompson, who left Sunday’s loss to the Vikings with a thumb injury on his throwing hand, will be day to day, per McDaniel. …

— The Dolphins, on Monday, released running back ZaQuandre White from the practice squad.

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