Tua Time? Why his hip injury has become less of a concern. Plus Flores on Parker
Some important injury updates from Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores during his Thursday morning news conference:
▪ It wasn’t an accident that Tua Tagovailoa appeared on the injury report Week 1 but not Week 2. Tagovailoa showed up as a full participant all three days last week with a hip injury, but was not on the list after Wednesday’s practice in preparation for the Bills.
Why?
“He’s doing well,” Flores said. “From a rehab standpoint, from a strength training standpoint, he’s doing what everyone else is doing, so we thought we could take him off. ... He’s doing well. He’s learning. From a health standpoint, there was a serious injury and he’s done a great job as far as getting himself back healthy to where he can practice and take a lot of reps. He’s trending in the right direction from a health standpoint.”
Left unsaid: Whether the Dolphins are ready to play Tagovailoa if Ryan Fitzpatrick’s early-season struggles are not a one-week deal.
▪ DeVante Parker’s long injury history will not factor into the team’s decision whether to play him Sunday against the Bills.
Parker left the Patriots game in the second quarter with the same hamstring issue that limited him during training camp. He dressed in pads and warmed up with the team Wednesday, but was limited in practice.
Parker also practiced Thursday.
“As far as the history, I don’t look into that too much,” Flores said. “How are we right now? Where are we right now? That’s my conversations with DeVante and the training staff. He was out of practice yesterday. We’re taking this thing one day at a time. We’ll see where we’re at for the game. It’s still early. he’s doing everything he can to get out there. But no we don’t take previous hamstring injuries into account. We’re just focused on this particular one. It’s limited him some, but he’s doing everything he can to get back out there.”
▪ Linebacker Elandon Roberts popped up on the injury list Wednesday with a concussion even though the team did not announce one Sunday. What happened?
“It’s a case every once in a while where someone has some symptoms the next day,” Flores said. “Nothing’s more important than the health of the players and we’ll always do what’s best in their interests. He’s in the protocol now. We’ll get him back when we get him back, but we’re not going to rush him at all.”
Roberts missed a second straight day of practice Thursday.
As for who can fill in at inside linebacker if Roberts can’t play, Flores said: “First off, Roberts we’ll see how that goes. We’re not counting him out. We obviously has some other guys. Kyle [Van Noy’s] played linebacker, Kamu [Grugier-Hill’s] played linebacker, [Jerome] Baker, Sam [Eguavoen], [Calvin] Munson, we’ve got some other guys in the room. If somebody’s down, other guys will step in.”
▪ When asked about a recent NFL memo chiding coaches for not observing proper mask protocol on the sidelines in Week 1, Flores said:
“We’ve just got to wear them. There is some difficulty trying to communicate with the guys up the booth, but at the end of the day, nothing’s more important than the health and safety of our team and the guys around the league. We’ll do a better job from that standpoint. ... If a guy can’t hear me, I’ve got to find a new mask.”
