The Dolphins placed Tagovailo on IR after the concussion

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins placed Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve after the quarterback suffered another injury in Thursday's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

According to NFL rules, Tagovailo must be on injured reserve for at least four games. There is no timetable for how long Miami plans to keep him on IR as he focuses on his health before returning to the field.

This is the third diagnosed concussion of Tagovailoa's NFL career.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that Tagovailo will not be placed on IR until more information is available, but the decision was made Tuesday after further evaluation.

Miami signed quarterback Tyler Huntley off the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad on Monday. Per NFL rules, the Dolphins must allocate a spot on their 53-man roster to Huntley for their next three games.

“We got to learn a nice reminder of how it only takes one play and what you think is your depth to suddenly change,” McDaniel said. “So it's a step forward to secure some depth in case of the unexpected, which is the timeline for us as it relates to Tua.”

Third-year quarterback Skylar Thompson will start Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks now that Tagovailo has been officially ruled out.

Thompson did not play in the 2023 season, but he started three games as a rookie in 2022, including a playoff loss on the road to the Bills. McDaniel said the move to add Huntley was “not a direct reflection of Skyler” and was done to add depth to the team.

Huntley has started 10 games in his four-year career, mostly for the Ravens. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2022 after helping guide them to the playoffs in place of Lamar Jackson. He started in Baltimore's playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I think that helps its dynamics [quarterbacks] Place to add another guy with a history on this team,” McDaniel said of Huntley. “He's a guy that's a signal-caller that a team can get behind. … I think it's more direct to back Skyler up, and then you always let the competition play when you're off the field. But it's a profound step, for sure.”

Tagovailoa suffered the injury while scrambling over the middle for a first down and making forceful contact with his helmet on the arm of Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa immediately moved in response to a fence with his arms in an unusual position.

Medical trainers attended to Tagovailoa for several minutes as players knelt around him. He was eventually able to walk off the field and into the locker room under his own power but was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.

The next four games will push Tagovailoa's career total of games missed due to injury since 2020 to 14. He played in 18 of the Dolphins' regular-season and playoff games in 2023