Report: Miami Dolphins taking risky gamble with quarterback situation vs. Arizona Cardinals

The Miami Dolphins have evidently decided to take a bit of a risk going into their Week 8 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Dolphins have released quarterback Tim Boyle in light of elevating fellow quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to the active roster for Sunday’s game. They are now in line to be without an emergency No. 3 quarterback against Arizona.

It looks like Tagovailoa and backup Skylar Thompson are the only two quarterbacks who will be available for the Dolphins, and both dealt with injuries not that long ago.

Tagovailoa hasn’t taken the field with Miami’s offense (in game action) for an extended period of time. He sustained a concussion in Week 2, and Thompson suffered a rib injury in the team’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3. They both appear to be healthy now.

Quarterback Tyler Huntley was an important piece for the Dolphins in Tagovailoa’s absence, but he is currently on injured reserve, as he hurt his shoulder against the Indianapolis Colts less than a week ago on Oct. 20.

Maybe his best start of the season came against the New England Patriots on Oct. 6, when he totaled 194 passing yards and led the Dolphins to a 15-10 road win. That was the only game Miami won while Tagovailoa was unavailable.

Tagovailoa is now set to play a game with the Dolphins for the first time since Sept. 12, and he will look to re-establish himself as one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. He was certainly elite across 17 starts with Miami in the 2023 regular season, considering he threw for more than 4,500 yards and helped the Dolphins finish with an 11-6 record.

Ahead of Sunday’s game, Tagovailoa’s teammates have encouraged the quarterback to slide at the end of plays in order to avoid contact, so here’s hoping that he will listen to their words of advice.

All in all, as long as multiple freak injuries don’t occur against the Cardinals, fans of the Dolphins shouldn’t be too worried about the fact that Miami won’t have an emergency No. 3 quarterback on Sunday, but it’s something to keep an eye on.