Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa out vs. Houston Texans with finger injury

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will not start Sunday against the Houston Texans, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Tagovailoa was listed as questionable to play Week 9 with injuries to a left finger and his ribs. The Dolphins' left-handed starting quarterback has a small fracture in his middle finger that didn’t heal well enough for him to start Sunday, per Schefter.

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Dolphins backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett will start in Tagovailoa’s place against the Texans, who are getting starting QB Tyrod Taylor back from a hamstring injury that has kept him out since Week 2.

The Dolphins don’t have a third available quarterback, since Jake Dolegala was not elevated from the practice squad Saturday, so Miami will dress Tagovailoa for an emergency situation.

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Complicating matters further, the Dolphins next play Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders, putting Tagovailoa’s status for Week 10 also in question before a short week.

The Dolphins are 1-4 with Tagovailoa starting this season and 0-3 with Brissett under center.

Tagovailoa vs. Brissett: PFF passing stats in 2021

Metric	Tagovailoa	Brissett
PFF passing grade	71.0	73.6
Yards per attempt	6.6	5.5
Average depth of target	7.7	7.1
Adj. completion %	73.8%	77.0%
Big-time throw %	3.0%	3.5%
Turnover-worthy play %	3.8%	3.5%

Click here to view Tagovailoa's career in PFF Stats…

Tagovailoa is PFF’s 22nd-highest-graded passer (71.0) this season, while Brissett ranks 18th (73.6).

Tagovailoa’s absence against the Texans is additionally notable since rumors percolated that Miami could make a trade with Houston for quarterback Deshaun Watson, who continues to sit out as he faces 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct or assault. Watson also is demanding a trade away from the Texans.

Fantasy football managers looking to replace Tagovailoa in starting lineups should look toward Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who will have a full complement of receiving options against a Chiefs secondary that has struggled to contain opposing offenses this season. Love is the consensus QB14 this week, according to PFF's fantasy football rankings.

Alternatively, look to pick up Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who will be returning from injury this week. Taylor was off to a great start with Houston before the injury, averaging 0.82 fantasy points per dropback. That is more than any other quarterback who has started most of the season. Taylor is facing a Dolphins team that has given up the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks (21.6).