One game back from a concussion sustained on Sept. 12 against Buffalo, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa faces the Bills again on Sunday.

The first 2024 meeting between the AFC East rivals wasn’t the first time that the former Alabama All-American had suffered an injury in a game against Buffalo.

In Buffalo’s 35-0 victory over Miami on Sept. 19, 2021, Tagovailoa played only nine snaps. Fractured ribs sidelined the Dolphins QB for the next three games. In the 2021 rematch on Oct. 31, Tagovailoa sustained a finger fracture in a 26-11 loss that caused him to miss the next game.

On Sept. 25, 2022, Tagovailoa went to the locker room after a roughing-the-passer penalty with two minutes left in the first half because “his lower back was like Gumby or something.” He returned for the second half in Miami’s 21-19 victory.

Tagovailoa said the beatings he’s taken from Buffalo won’t be on his mind on Sunday.

“I’m a football player,” Tagovailoa said. “Go out there, if you have any of those thoughts, I think that’s when it’s time to call it, man. So go out there, just enjoy it. Enjoy being out there. Enjoy that opportunity. I love it. I just love football and being out there with our guys.

“But nothing is better than getting a win, and we’re looking for our first win in however long over there at Highmark Stadium this Sunday.”

The 2022 victory is the Dolphins’ only win over Buffalo in the teams’ past 12 meetings.

Tagovailoa has a 1-7 record as a starting quarterback and a 74.1 passing-efficiency rating against Buffalo. Against the rest of the NFL, Tagovailoa has a 32-14 record and a 100.1 passing-efficiency rating.

“You’ve got to find a way to beat them regardless of what that looks like,” Tagovailoa said. “That’s what, throughout those eight times that I’ve played them and the seven that we’ve lost, that’s just been the recipe for it. We just couldn’t find a way to do that. Here’s another opportunity for us to do that.”

Tagovailoa played for the first time on Sunday since getting hurt in a 31-10 loss to Buffalo. Miami scored three touchdowns in the four games that Tagovailoa missed. With Tagovailoa back at the helm, the Dolphins offense scored three touchdowns against Arizona.

Tagovailoa called the performance “something we can build off,” but Miami lost to the Cardinals 28-27 on a field goal on the game’s final play.

That left the Dolphins with a 2-5 record and facing an uphill climb to reach the NFL playoffs for the third consecutive season.

“You just got to work through all of that,” Tagovailoa said. “Sometimes that’s just the cards that you’re dealt with as a team. It’s not an issue for me; it’s an issue for us as a team. That’s how we win games. I can’t go play defense. (Cornerback) Jalen Ramsey can’t come play offense. That’s just how it works. This is the cards that we’re dealt with, we’ve got to stick together as a team. We’ve got to just continue to grow stronger, stay in the film room, communicate with our guys.

“I don’t think anything is over until it’s actually over, so I believe we still have a shot, and we can still do it. It starts this week against Buffalo, against a really good team and see you guys Sunday with it.”

In 2021, the Dolphins won one of their first eight games, then they won seven in a row.

“Worrying about your job and what you have to do,” Tagovailoa said about what sparked the 2021 turnaround. “I know that sounds cliché, but that’s exactly what we did. It’s like, ‘All right, I’m so worried about the defense giving up touchdowns,’ the defense saying to the offense, ‘We’re tired of you guys not putting enough touchdowns on the board,’ and things like that.

“Well, if we just focus on what we have to do and worry about ourselves, worry about our jobs and what we’ve got to do — the game is hard as it is. So that’s all we’ve got to do and just go out there and play, trust the guy that you’re playing with. And if the ball falls into our hands and that’s how the game is going to go, that’s how the game goes.”

The Dolphins and Bills square off at noon CST Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

Buffalo has won its past three games to reach 6-2 for the 2024 season.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.