Dolphins to start Brock Osweiler vs. Packers, eye Nov. 25 for Ryan Tannehill return

DAVIE, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins quarterback Brock Osweiler will make his fifth consecutive start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

Ryan Tannehill will be out again Sunday, coach Adam Gase said, as the Dolphins continue to rest him as he still deals with a capsule injury in his throwing shoulder.

Gase said the goal is for Tannehill to play Nov. 25 at Indianapolis, the Dolphins' next game after Green Bay, but there are no guarantees yet.

"[I want to] use these next two weeks to get healthy, get back into throwing, get sharp and be ready to go," Tannehill said. "I'm going to do whatever I can to be ready for Indy."

However, the way Tannehill described his injury seemed grim. In fact, he said after throwing earlier this week the Dolphins decided to shut it down because he "wasn't close" to making NFL throws.

Tannehill said he feels pain with every throw and that repeated throws stretch his injured capsule, forcing a rest period. He also said he won't be 100 percent when he returns to action and "it'll be playing through pain the rest of the year."

Frustration and uncertainty have followed Tannehill and the Dolphins through this process.

"I've never had anything like this during the season," Tannehill said. "I've never had anything that I wasn't able to fight through that I felt like I could fight through. That part is extremely difficult."

Tannehill said he talked to multiple doctors and "nobody said surgery." He said it's a time and rest thing, so he can avoid a "yo-yo" situation where he can throw then can't throw, but he's confident, based on what doctors say, that he will return this season.

"It's uncomfortable in overhead situations," Tannehill said. "The screwy part is if I played another position, I'd be able to do it."

The NFL, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that the Dolphins were fined $30,000 and Gase was fined $15,000 for violating the league's injury report policy relating to their reporting of Tannehill's shoulder injury before the team's Oct. 14 game vs. the Bears.

The Dolphins listed Tannehill as being a full participant on the Thursday, Oct. 11 practice before the Week 6 game against Chicago when he missed some of his normal workload. He should have been listed as limited.

"We have been fully cooperative and transparent with the NFL throughout this process,'' the Dolphins said in a statement Wednesday. "We received the penalties imposed and will have no further comment.''

Tannehill initially suffered his shoulder injury in Week 3 against Oakland, but he didn't miss any practices or games. Late in the fourth quarter of the Dolphins' Week 5 game at Cincinnati, Gase said Tannehill hurt that same right shoulder after a Bengals defender hit his arm and forced a fumble that became a defensive touchdown.

There was no indication that the injury could keep Tannehill out of game action until Friday before the Bears game when he was a limited participant at practice and listed as questionable for Sunday. An hour-and-a-half before the game, Tannehill was ruled out and Osweiler was named the starter.

Tannehill has not thrown in front of the media since Oct. 11, and that likely won't happen again until Nov. 21 at the earliest. Gase admitted that "we haven't had the jump that he was looking for. That's why we're kind of taking a step back."

It's possible for Tannehill's capsule injury to get worse, but he believes the most likely scenario for that to happen would be a defender grabbing his arm while he's throwing, like when he first got injured.

Osweiler is 2-2 as Miami's starter this season. Tannehill, who has missed 25 of his past 30 games because of knee and shoulder injuries, went 3-2 as a starter this season. Both have similar completion percentage, quarterback ratings and TD-to-interception ratios.

Osweiler previously said he wanted to play well enough so that he didn't have to return to the bench when Tannehill was healthy, but this week he took a more diplomatic approach.

"It's really not up to me. It doesn't matter what I think," Osweiler said. "At the end of the day, coach Gase and the front office set the depth chart and make those decisions. I fully respect whatever decision is made."