The Miami Dolphins are naming rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa the starting quarterback, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The news comes two days after Tagovailoa’s professional debut, where he took over for the game’s final drive. He played five snaps, two of which were passes. He finished the game by going 2-for-2 with 9 yards passing.
Last week’s game was Tagovailoa’s first time playing since suffering a devastating hip injury in November of 2019 while playing for Alabama. The significance of the injury had many concerned about whether he would ever play again.
Tagovailoa will take over for Ryan Fitzpatrick, who he said has done an incredible job at mentoring him.
“That saying goes true,” Tagovailoa said.” “It says, ‘if you want to get somewhere fast, you go alone. But if you want to do it with purpose, you bring people with you.’ And I think Fitz has done a tremendous job at trying to shape and mold me.”
Fitzpatrick embraced the role of mentoring the rookie, and was aware that his time as the starting quarterback was limited.
“Whether it’s me out there doing everything I can to put the team in a position to win, or whether that’s somebody else, be it Tua, that is out there doing it … I’m going to do the best I can to help him.”
The Dolphins are on a bye this week, but will face off against the Los Angeles Rams on November 1 at 1pm est. Tagovailoa will be be up against some noteworthy opponents, in Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey in his first game as a starting NFL quarterback.