Tua Tagovailoa was called into action for the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night after starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett injured his knee on the opening drive of the third quarter.
Brissett was starting the game for Miami because Tagovailoa was dealing with a fractured middle finger on his throwing hand that had relegated him to backup duty only. But Tagovailoa ended up in the lineup after all as the Dolphins earned a big victory over the Baltimore Ravens at home.
“It means a lot,” Tagovailoa told reporters after the game. “We beat a really, really good team. This is a tough team to beat. The guys are happy. They’re sore but at the end of a win nothing really hurts so it feels good.”
Even with the glow of victory, Tagovailoa’s injured finger was still barking at him after the game. During the game, Tagovailoa had his hand slam into the hand of a Ravens defender on a follow through of a pass which, in case he forgot, reminded him he has a broken finger.
“It doesn’t feel good. I can tell you that,” Tagovailoa said. “I got it banged up a little bit in the game. But we’ve got 10 days to heal up, rest up so we’ll take all the time we can.”
Tagovailoa said he didn’t get any work with the first-team offense this week and Brissett was prepped to start the game against the Ravens and give his finger more time to heal. He’ll now get the benefit of the weekend off before facing the New York Jets on the road a week from Sunday.