Tua Tagovailoa will likely be sidelined for the team’s next game and possibly longer, his coach said Friday, as the Miami Dolphins quarterback was told to focus on his role as “his family’s starting quarterback.”

Tagovailoa was injured in a hard collision with Bills safety Damar Hamlin in the third quarter of the 31-10 loss to the visiting Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.

The Dolphins’ next game is a week from Sunday, when they travel to the Northwest to play the Seattle Seahawks. The decision to play is in the hands of Tagovailoa and his doctor, Miami coach Mike McDaniel said.

“I don’t see how he would play in the next game. I don’t see it,” McDaniel told reporters.

And in a sign that the Dolphins are willing to go without Tagovailoa longer, McDaniel said the team is looking for an additional QB to replace Miami’s now-presumptive starting center Skylar Thompson and practice squad QB Tim Boyle.

“The team and the organization have a lot of confidence in Skyler,” McDaniel said. “That being said, we will bring in (another quarterback).”

Tagovailoa, rushing to score on fourth down, crossed the line to get the first down before dropping his helmet and landing hard on Hamlin’s torso. The QB fell to the ground and appeared unable to get up, as players from both teams immediately sought medical attention.

As Tagovailoa was being led away, McDaniel appeared to whisper a message to him.

“I told him he’s the starting quarterback in his family, to go into the locker room, take a deep breath and I’ll see him soon,” McDaniel said Friday.

The tackler, Hamlin, died nearly 20 months ago when he went into cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game and had to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati.

Hamlin did not give up on his career despite the near-death incident, and McDaniel said he was not in a position to advise Tagovailoa on his next move.

“I think it would be so, so wrong of me to even start on that subject,” McDaniel said, fearing he would put unnecessary pressure on Tagovailoa by expressing such an opinion.

“If I were to answer that question, I would say something like, ‘Okay, this is my opinion on his career.’ And if he read it, he would agree or disagree, either way, I just made it worse.”

Tagovailoa missed multiple games of the 2022 season and suffered two serious concussions that year.

He enjoyed a stellar 2023 season, throwing for 4,623 yards, a league-leading total. The Dolphins awarded Tagovailoa a four-year, $212.4 million contract with $167 million guaranteed in July.