Since becoming Miami’s starting quarterback in the seventh week of his rookie season, Tua Tagovailoa has missed 10 of Dolphins’ 45 games. In 2022, the former Alabama All-American missed five games because of concussions, but he’s also been sidelined by a thumb injury, fractured ribs and a broken finger.

Tagovailoa has one season remaining on his four-year rookie contract. Miami general manager Chris Grier wants to make sure Tagovailoa doesn’t come out of the 2023 season as a free agent. But while speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, Grier said he couldn’t help but be concerned about Tagovailoa’s durability.

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“I can’t lie and say no,” Grier said. “But it’s not something that is going to make us afraid to do something long-term with him. The one thing he’s had, he’s been banged up, but he always comes back and bounces back and plays hard and performs, so excited for his future. Excited for watching him doing all the work he’s been doing in the offseason right now to prepare for 2023, and he’s very excited to get back on the field with his teammates.”

The Dolphins have an available remedy to extend Tagovailoa’s contract without negotiations. Miami has a fifth-year option on the quarterback’s contract. If the Dolphins use their option, it will put Tagovailoa under contract for the 2024 season for $23.171 million.

But Miami must exercise its option for a fifth season by May 1.

“We’re still having all those conversations because there’s a lot of factors that go into that,” Grier said about the Dolphin’s decision. “And I think now that we’re finally finishing up the coaching staff, we’ll focus on some of these answers, and coming together with (coach) Mike (McDaniel) and I, we’ll sit and talk about it as well as with (team owner) Mr. (Stephen) Ross and (senior vice president) Brandon Shore, so we’ll go through it, and we’ll make our decision then.

“But all expectations, he’s our quarterback and he’s our quarterback here to be successful for a long time.”

In McDaniel’s first season as Miami’s coach, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing-efficiency rating at 105.5. In his first two seasons, Tagovailoa’s rating was 88.8. In 2020 and 2021, Tagovailoa threw for a touchdown on 4.0 percent of his passes and an interception on 2.2 while averaging 194.2 passing yards per game. In 2022, Tagovailoa threw for a touchdown on 6.3 percent of his passes (the highest rate in the NFL) and an interception on 2.0 while averaging 272.9 passing yards per game.

“We’re very excited for him,” Grier said. “The strides he made this year with Mike and the offense, you guys have been here and seen it. It was really exciting. And to see the work he’s put in that you guys don’t see at the facility and around, it’s been really incredible.

“And the dialogue between him and Mike just talking football. I’ve never heard as much football as he talks about with Mike and stuff he sees even from other games. It’s pretty cool to see.”

Because Tagovailoa has played three seasons, he is eligible for a contract extension that could tie him to the Dolphins beyond the single-season reach of the fifth-year option. Grier said it’s possible Miami could go that route, but the “good thing is we’re not rushed to make anything right now.”

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Tagovailoa has had a veteran backup in each of his seasons – Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2020, Jacoby Brissett in 2021 and Teddy Bridgewater in 2022.

Miami has one other quarterback under contract for the 2023 season. Skylar Thompson started two regular-season games and a playoff contest as an undrafted rookie in 2022 because of injuries to Tagovailoa and Bridgewater.

“We’ve had some preliminary talks, Mike and I, just about the guy to come in and to be the right guy to fit for this offense and what we’re doing,” Grier said about signing a free-agent quarterback. “So, yeah, every player is on the table. We’ll talk about every one of them. We’ve talked about a couple of them already. But we’ll keep turning it over and try and find the right guy to come in. And the good thing is I think a lot of people want to come in. They see the excitement of the offense and what Mike’s done.”

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