Tua Tagovailoa says “no ifs, ands, or buts” about it, he’ll play next week if the Dolphins are in the playoffs.

Tagovailoa was a limited participant in practice last week, too, and the Dolphins held him out of Sunday’s game when the injury did not improve in the expected manner, making it “not safe at all” for the quarterback to play, McDaniel said on Monday.

The Miami Dolphins are clinging to their playoff lives as they head into Week 18. They'll need to defeat the New York Jets on the road to keep those slim chances of reaching the postseason going, and they'll likely have to do that without their starting quarterback.