After missing the final three games of the regular season with a knee injury, Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill will remain on the sideline for the team's playoff game Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers - according to a report from Pro Football Talk.
Ten-year veteran Matt Moore, who is 2-1 as Tannehill's replacement, will make the first playoff start of his nine year pro career. Coach Adam Gase said it would be difficult to start Tannehill, who did not practice Wednesday, this week if he doesn't practice.
"I need to see him move around with traffic around him, and see how his escapability is," Gase said. "To throw him back there and say, `Don't move, and if anybody gets close to you, go down,' that's not really an option for us. It's not his style of football. We have to make sure that we feel comfortable with the way that he's moving around."
Tannehill threw on the side last week, and the Dolphins hoped he could return to practice this week. But Gase said he won't do anything that jeopardizes Tannehill's long-term health.
"Every day we keep seeing improvement," Gase said. "It's going to be more about, 'Where's his movement at?' Every day it gets a little bit better. We'll keep doing what we've been doing with him, and we'll make a decision Thursday as far as what we're going to do at practice."
Miami's first practice of the week was Wednesday afternoon, and Tannehill watched wearing a T-shirt, cap and knee brace.
