It sure sounds like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be facing a backup quarterback Sunday.

In a game the Bucs can’t afford to lose, it appears the Miami Dolphins will be starting rookie Qwinn Ewers, not Tua Tagovailoa.

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Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel initially benched Tua for Ewers before Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which Miami lost 45-21 at home.

Apparently, Ewers played well enough to impress McDaniel enough to keep him in the fold. Will it be enough to spark Miami to an upset win? At this point, anything is possible, since the Bucs have one win in the past two months.

But in any case, McDaniel implied that Ewers is the guy in his Monday presser.

“I don’t play Monopoly with people’s careers… When I say someone gives us the best chance to win, I mean it,” he said. “The idea of not trying to win football games and football players’ careers kind of triggers me.”

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The Dolphins also dropped Tagolovia all the way to third-string QB, a decision McDaniel said was “best for all parties.”

One NFL Insider feels that Tagolovia– who signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension with Miami in July 2024– is done with the Dolphins.

“It is the expectation that he has played his final down for the Miami Dolphins,” Ian Rappoport of the NFL Network said last week. “He’s going to be the third quarterback (against Cincinnati). So the options for how they would move on with him– they could simply cut him,

As for Ewers– Miami’s seventh-round draft pick out of Texas this year– McDaniel liked what he saw.

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“As much, if not more, than what can be reasonably expected,” McDaniel told a group of reporters. “You want to see the game not be too big for him.

“That’s kind of how I had it in my mind during the game,” McDaniel said. “I thought he earned some opportunities to continue to develop. I was happy with how he handled the position — that’s not easy. And I think that’s what’s frustrating [about the loss] is it would be a lot better if it was on the rookie quarterback, and I don’t think it was.”

The Bucs-Dolphins game is scheduled to kickoff at 1:00 p.m. Sunday.