Tua Tagovailoa Back in the Starting Lineup for Week 10

The Miami Dolphins starting quarterback will return to the lineup in Week 10. Tua Tagovailoa, the second-year signal-caller, will make his 6th start of the season next Sunday against the New York Jets after dealing with a broken middle finger on his throwing hand.

Dolphins head coach Brian Flores announced Tagovailoa's status during his Monday press conference.

“My expectation is he’ll start this weekend,” Flores said. “Obviously he’ll have some discomfort with the finger. Banged it the other day — we were trying to avoid that, but it happened. But he’s had some time to rest it and he’ll practice today.”

In Week 9, Tagovailoa dressed out for the Thursday night contest against the Baltimore Ravens, but head coach Brian Flores opted to start Jacoby Brissett instead. Brissett gave the Dolphins a 6-3 lead after the first half, but left the game with a knee injury after the first drive of the second half.

Tagovailoa came into the game, without his signature dual-cross eyeblack no less. He led Miami through a wild second half, completing eight-of-13 passes for 158 yards and added a rushing score.

It's been yet another tumultuous season for Tagovailoa. Early in the season, the southpaw quarterback suffered broken ribs after a nasty sack against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2. Tagovailoa didn't return to the lineup until Week 6, but by Week 8 he had another injury, this time the broken finger.

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In five games this season, Tagovialoa has completed 65% of his passes for 1,198 yards with seven touchdowns to five interceptions. The Dolphins are 3-7 through 10 games, far from the lofty expectations of the team from a season ago that found itself mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

All's not lost for Miami just yet. Miami draws the Jets, Panthers and Giants before hitting a late BYE and rematching the Jets. Those are four winnable games to get back to .500 as the Dolphins continue to get healthy and build confidence. Closing with the Titans, Saints and Patriots are tougher games, but certainly winnable contests.