One of the big storylines of the 2023 NFL season has been quarterback injuries, but one of the teams that had a hard time on that front last year has been able to avoid reaching down their depth chart for a signal caller thus far.
The Dolphins offseason was filled with talk about things that Tua Tagovailoa was doing to prevent concussions and other injuries. That has paid off with Tagovailoa starting every game for a prolific offense that has the Dolphins in contention for the top seed in the AFC playoffs.
That’s the lens Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was looking through when he was asked about the long list of injured quarterbacks around the league during his Tuesday press conference.
“Yeah, I think this is the second time it’s been brought to my attention,” McDaniel said. “And you’re so invested in your own situation. I’d be like, to me, it feels like the healthiest year for quarterbacks ever. But I don’t remember — I mean that seems like a lot. It does. And who knows what the correlation or causation of that is. But I think typically it feels like it’d be 35-40 total in a given season. That’s completely not factual, just a guess. But that seems pretty excessive because by my math there’s 32 teams. So yeah, that feels like it’s almost half the league that’s dealing with it, plus the guys that are on two or three. But shoot, for the Miami Dolphins, this is the year of quarterback health.”
That’s the sort of quote that can come back to haunt a coach if their season should take a wrong turn, but, for now, the Dolphins can be thankful for their good fortune at the quarterback position.