Drops, poor pass protection hamper Jacoby Brissett in Dolphins’ blowout loss to Bills

The Miami Dolphins played nearly their entire home opener with backup Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. That’s not exactly what the Dolphins envisioned entering Sunday’s AFC East clash with the Buffalo Bills.

But there wasn’t much that went as planned for the Dolphins in their 35-0 blowout loss to the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 2.

Brissett entered the game after starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took a crushing hit from Bills defensive end A.J. Epenesa on the Dolphins’ second drive of the game. Tagovailoa needed to be carted into the locker room and did not return, as NFL Network reported that initial X-rays came back negative and revealed bruised ribs.

That left Brissett, 28, as the Dolphins’ quarterback for 10 of their 12 drives on Sunday.

“You never want to see a player go down, especially one of your teammates,” Brissett said. “That’s part of the game, just being ready to go. My number was called. It’s not my first time in this situation.”

Brissett, who played just two snaps (both successful quarterback sneaks) in the Dolphins’ season-opening road win over the New England Patriots last week, completed 24 of his 40 passes for 169 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. He produced an underwhelming passer rating of 59.3.

There were plenty of drops from receivers, too, including a pass from Brissett that went through DeVante Parker’s hands in the end zone, which would have cut the Dolphins’ deficit to just one touchdown early in the second quarter. Albert Wilson and Jaylen Waddle also had drops.

“That’s not deflating,” Brissett said of Parker’s drop. “It’s too early in the game. It’s never deflating. It’s part of the game. Drops are a part of the game, bad throws are a part of the game.”

Four of Miami’s 10 drives with Brissett under center ended in punts, three resulted in turnovers on downs, one was stopped by an interception, one was cut short by a fumble and one ended at halftime.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said of his comfort level in the Dolphins’ offense. “You’re never done until you’re done. But I feel good.”

One of Brissett’s biggest strengths is his ability to avoid turnovers, as he entered this season with just 13 interceptions in 983 pass attempts — a pick rate of only 1.3 percent. But Brissett threw the 14th interception of his NFL career on Sunday when Bills cornerback Levi Wallace stepped in front of a pass intended for tight end Mike Gesicki late in the first quarter.

The Bills’ pass rush and blitzes disrupted the Dolphins’ offense. Along with knocking Tagovailoa out of the game, Buffalo sacked Brissett four times.

Brissett, who attended Dwyer High in West Palm Beach, signed a one-year contract with the Dolphins this past offseason to be Tagovailoa’s backup. He started 32 games for the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts in the first five seasons of his NFL career and also played 17 games as a backup during that stretch.

One thing Brissett made clear after Sunday’s game is he does not consider himself to be a backup quarterback.

“I’m a starter,” he said.

Then why did Brissett choose to join the Dolphins over teams that presented a real opportunity to start games?

“It’s the NFL, nobody gives you anything,” Brissett said. “You got to go out there and compete and be ready when your opportunity comes, however it comes. You just got to go out there and get your opportunity and make the most of it.”

Brissett’s Dolphins opportunity could be coming if Tagovailoa’s injury is too painful to play through. Tagovailoa’s status for the Dolphins’ next game will be determined in the coming days.

“Like every week. I’m going to prepare as a starter,” Brissett said when asked how he’ll approach the upcoming week if Tagovailoa can’t play against against the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday. “I know that’s cliche, but that’s how I live my life because you never know. I’ve been in these situations before.”

Dolphins coach Brian Flores called it a “next man up” mentality.

“We’ll see where we’re at with Tua,” Flores said. “But like any position if he’s not able to go, we’ve dealt with this with COVID, injuries. This is something that’s not new to anyone, the next man up will play.”