As he prepares to return to the field on Sunday, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he’s “not the savior of” the Miami Dolphins. But what has transpired this season indicates the former Alabama All-American can be at least a big difference-maker for the NFL team.

Three weeks into the 2022 NFL season, the Dolphins had a 3-0 record and Tagovailoa had a league-leading passing-efficiency rating of 117.8.

But in Game 4, Tagovailoa sustained a concussion, and he hasn’t played since.

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After Tagovailoa left the Sept. 29 game against the Cincinnati Bengals with 5:15 left in the first half, the Dolphins lost 27-15. Miami followed with a 40-17 loss to the New York Jets on Oct. 9 and a 24-16 setback against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Now 3-3, the Dolphins will square off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Week 7 Sunday night game, and Miami is planning to have Tagovailoa back at quarterback.

The Dolphins scored 89 points this season before Tagovailoa got hurt and 42 points since he left the lineup.

But stopping Miami’s free fall isn’t his responsibility alone, Tagovailoa said on Wednesday.

“I just got to be myself,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m not the savior of this team. I don’t just come in and we start winning games. It’s a team deal. The defense gets us stops, the offense goes and puts points on the board, and the defense can help put points on the board as well as special teams. So for me, I just look at it as coming into this this week, just be myself. Don’t try to force anything. Don’t try to make plays that aren’t there be there. Just give our playmakers the ball and let them go to work.”

Last season, injuries caused Tagovailoa to miss four of Miami’s first nine games. After starting 2-7, the Dolphins won seven of their final eight with him in the lineup.

Tagovailoa practiced on a limited basis for the first time since his injury on Oct. 12. He returned to full participation in practice on Friday, and he cleared the concussion protocol on Saturday. But Miami held him out of Sunday’s game against the Vikings.

Can the quarterback and the offense start clicking again?

“I think that’s what we’ll have to kind of go through this week with our guys in practice,” Tagovailoa said. “I would say that’s just something that we got to just go through in practice.”

Miami coach Mike McDaniel said he would be looking in practice to see the return of the pre-concussion Tagovailoa.

“It’s pretty easy considering there’s an extensive amount of time spent on the relationship between the starting quarterback and the head coach and the play-caller,” McDaniel said. “So those are hours and hours of field, meeting-room time and you get to know each other pretty well, so what I want to see is the same locked-in guy that I know when he’s on it. He’s laser-focused, he’s in his normal mood, but he doesn’t lose attention span at the task at hand. That’s what I’ve grown to love about the guy. That’s why he’s been able to have some success in a completely new language and system. And that will be my expectation for this week because it is not the Tua Dolphins.”

If Tagovailoa can stay on the field the whole game on Sunday night, it would be a step up at quarterback for Miami.

Teddy Bridgewater finished the game at quarterback for the Dolphins after Tagovailoa got hurt. Bridgewater got hurt on the first snap against the Jets, and rookie Skylar Thompson was forced to make his NFL debut and play the rest of the game. As the only QB who had practice fully throughout the week, Thompson started against the Vikings. But a thumb injury forced him out, and Bridgewater – one day clear of the concussion protocol – finished the game.

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The Alabama Game of the Week is the Steelers-Dolphins contest on Sunday night. Fourteen players from Alabama high schools and colleges are on the teams’ active rosters.

The complete Week 7 schedule (with all times Central and with point spreads from vegasinsider.com):

Thursday

· New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals (-2), 7:15 p.m. (Prime Video)

Sunday

· Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens (-6.5), noon

· Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-10.5) at Carolina Panthers, noon

· Atlanta Falcons at Cincinnati Bengals (-6.5), noon (WBRC, WZDX, WALA, WCOV, WDFX)

· Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys (-7), noon (WIAT, WKRG, WAKA, WTVY)

· New York Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3), noon

· Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (-2.5), noon (WHNT)

· Green Bay Packers (-5) at Washington Commanders, noon

· New York Jets at Denver Broncos (-1), 3:05 p.m.

· Houston Texans at Las Vegas Raiders (-7), 3:05 p.m.

· Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Chargers (-6), 3:25 p.m.

· Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5) at San Francisco 49ers, 3:25 p.m. (WBRC, WZDX, WALA, WCOV, WDFX)

· Pittsburgh Steelers at Miami Dolphins (-7), 7:20 p.m. (NBC, Universo)

Monday

· Chicago Bears at New England Patriots (-8), 7:15 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles have open dates in Week 7.

CHECK OUT MAPS OF SUNDAY’S BROADCAST TV COVERAGE

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