The odds of Ryan Tannehill returning for the Tennessee Titans this season got substantially slimmer on Thursday.
Tennessee put Tannehill on injured reserve, meaning he’ll need to miss at least four weeks. That means that if the Titans make the playoffs, the earliest he’d be able to play would be the AFC Championship Game.
Tannehill had ankle surgery last week. He was injured in the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 18.
Tennessee also placed linebackers Bud Dupree and Zach Cunningham on IR today.
In 12 games, Tannehill completed 65.2 percent of his passing attempts for 2,536 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. Rookie Malik Willis started two games in place of Tannehill earlier this season and also filled in for him last week, but it will be the newly-signed Joshua Dobbs getting the start against the Dallas Cowboys tonight.
The matchup with the Cowboys has no bearing on Tennessee’s playoff hopes; the Titans have to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars next week to win the AFC South and reach the postseason. Starting Dobbs tonight gives him a chance to get acclimated before what will be a pivotal Week 18 game.
Titans-Cowboys will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime.