The Miami Dolphins have made a change at quarterback, with Tua Tagovailoa, who has started every game this season, going to the bench for seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The QB switch comes after the Dolphins were eliminated from postseason contention with a 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. On Tuesday, Miami coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s play “was not good enough” against Pittsburgh.

The Miami Herald, NFL Network and ESPN reported the Dolphins’ decision ahead of McDaniel’s Wednesday press conference.

Tagovailoa has completed 260-of-384 passes for 2,660 yards with 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions during the 2025 season. His 15 interceptions are the most in the NFL this season.

Ewers’ only NFL regular-season action came in the Dolphins’ 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 19. The former Texas quarterback completed 5-of-8 passes for 53 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and got sacked twice.

In tabbing Ewers to start, Miami bypassed Zach Wilson. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Wilson started 33 games for the New York Jets from 2021 through 2023. Over the past two seasons, his regular-season action has consisted of 23 offensive snaps in three games for the Dolphins in 2025.

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Tagovailoa joined Miami from Alabama as the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s been the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, when healthy, since the seventh game of his rookie season.

In 2023, Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards. Last season, a concussion and a hip injury kept Tagovailoa out of six games, but the former Alabama All-American placed fourth in the league in average passing yards per game and had the NFL’s highest completion percentage.

This season, Tagovailoa’s complete rate is 5 percent lower, his interception rate has more than doubled and he’s averaging 70.6 fewer passing yards per game than he did in 2024.

The change at quarterback raises questions about Tagovailoa’s future with Miami.

Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in 2024. That contract guarantees Tagovailoa will be paid $54 million for the 2026 season even if Miami releases the quarterback after this season.

And if that sounds like a lot of money to pay a player who isn’t on the team, releasing Tagovailoa after this season would be even more punitive for Miami. The NFL bookkeeping rules would put a charge of $99.2 million for the missing player on the Dolphins’ 2026 salary cap. That would consume about one-third of Miami’s money for the season.

The Dolphins and Bengals square off at noon CST Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. At 4-10, Cincinnati isn’t going to the playoffs either.

Miami has three games remaining in its 2025 season.