Dolphins and Texans Swap Turnovers, if Not a Quarterback

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The first turnover arrived on the Houston Texans’ opening generate. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, pressured by Miami Dolphins protection Brandon Jones, lofted the ball to the conclude zone, and it landed in the rookie Jevon Holland’s palms for an interception.

From there, the Texans and the Dolphins swapped a person puzzling giveaway immediately after another: a bad decision by Dolphins quarterback Jacoby Brissett in the initial quarter a few missing fumbles by the Dolphins (two by halftime) an tried throwaway by Taylor that was turned into a sideline interception back again-to-back interceptions in the opening minutes of the third quarter a late Houston fumble.

There ended up nine turnovers blended. It was ugly, even for teams that entered the matchup with only two put together wins. The Dolphins (2-7), with an spectacular defensive general performance and an offense led by Brissett right after the common starter, Tua Tagovailoa, was a late scratch mainly because of a fractured finger on his throwing hand, did ample to eke out a 17-9 get at residence.

“Not likely to lie: It is been a whilst,” Dolphins basic safety Eric Rowe claimed with a grin soon after the activity.

Here ended up two groups with meager playoff aspirations, both devoid of a earn due to the fact Week 1, linked by trade rumors that begun in the off-season when Miami was reportedly seeking into trading for Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Watson asked for a trade out of Houston in January right after expressing his discontent with not becoming included in the team’s staff decisions, including the employing of Standard Supervisor Nick Caserio.

Less than two months just after Watson’s trade request, the to start with of 22 civil lawsuits was submitted versus him by women of all ages who accused the quarterback of coercive and lewd sexual habits. And neither the N.F.L. nor the Texans have proven that they know how to reply to a problem that has been 1 of the most distinguished stories of the 2021 season.

Watson remains in a precarious place on Houston’s roster. He has not suited up for a sport this year, but he continues to be on the energetic roster. The presumption is that he has played his final video game in a Texans uniform.

Houston (1-8), with one of the most porous rosters in the league, experienced conversations with the Dolphins ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, sparking speculation that the groups may achieve some kind of arrangement. Those talks fizzled as the deadline handed. The Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross built clear his stipulation that Watson would have to have to take care of his legal issues before any trade. That, of program, was unlikely to come about by November.

Watson will stay with the Texans at the very least till the new league year begins in March 2022.

The Dolphins, a franchise trapped in a revolving door of lousy drafting and instability, assumed Watson, one particular of the finest quarterbacks in the N.F.L. due to the fact getting into the league, could possibly be the lacking piece to bolster their offense after Tagovailoa, whom Miami drafted fifth all round very last 12 months, has not taken the leap the workforce hoped he would.

Miami flipped a 5-11 document in 2019 to 10-6 very last year, and the future phase in the rebuild was distinct: Get to the playoffs.

But just after 7 consecutive losses sandwiched concerning wins in 7 days 1 and on Sunday, the Dolphins are all but out of playoff competition and possible to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

Tagovailoa, who was 6-3 as a starter previous calendar year, has skipped 4 games this season, including 3 with a rib injury. In the off-period, Miami signed the former Texan Will Fuller and picked Jaylen Waddle, Tagovailoa’s teammate at Alabama, with the sixth decide in the draft, hoping to give the workforce speedier obtaining options to go with DeVante Parker and restricted finish Mike Gesicki.

None of it has panned out, and ahead of a 5-sack outing from Houston, even Miami’s protection, which led the league in takeaways (29) in 2020, appeared to be regressing.

Week following week, Tagovailoa has fielded issues about his standing with a group that has been actively hunting for his likely substitution. The Dolphins have primarily eluded concerns about their interest in Watson.

“Tua is our quarterback,” Coach Brian Flores has recurring.

“I don’t not experience desired,” Tagovailoa informed reporters in Oct immediately after once more being asked if he felt the staff was dedicated to him as Watson trade talks escalated.

“I actually think what the Dolphins did was good,” stated Mike Tannenbaum, a former executive vice president for soccer functions with the Dolphins. He later extra: “I imagine finding to know him now is just getting good and proactive. And if at some point you never sense like it’s the proper detail to do, you could always walk away.”

In 2008, Tannenbaum, then the Jets’ typical manager, traded for the 16-yr Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, ending the tenure of Chad Pennington, who experienced been with the Jets since 2000.

“We experienced to go look Chad in the eye and say, ‘Yeah, these rumors are correct, and as a great deal as we like you, we believe we have a opportunity to get better,’” Tannenbaum said in an job interview. “And those people are tough discussions, but to me, candidly, they’re suitable. And we were being a far better staff with Brett Favre.”

Equally, Tannenbaum reported, the Dolphins’ curiosity in Watson is a reflection of a leaguewide apply in which quarterbacks are regularly becoming evaluated, scrutinized and compared to other options. This problem, he extra, just comes about to be unfolding at a grander scale.

“We’re in the greatest meritocracy,” Tannenbaum mentioned. “So Tua really should not just be worrying about Deshaun Watson rumors, he ought to be worrying about participating in excellent. For the reason that if he plays fantastic, almost nothing else matters.”