Adam Gase: I'd need to feel 'really good' about Ryan Tannehill to play him

Adam Gase is keeping the door open for Ryan Tannehill to play in the wild-card round, but the Miami Dolphins coach insists he won't rush a return. 

The Dolphins coach said Monday he had not spoken with doctors yet about his starting quarterback's knee injury or recovery, but said he would have to feel "really good" to permit Tannehill to play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Gase added that he would have a better sense of Tannehill's status by Tuesday.

“I need to know what his movement skills are and the structure of his knee,” Gase said in a news conference. “Once I get that update I’ll have a better idea."

Tannehill completed a career-high 67.1% of his passes this season to help lead the Dolphins to their first playoff berth since 2008. Matt Moore has gone 2-1 as the team's starter since Tannehill was sidelined by sprained anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in a Week 14 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

"Any time you get a starter back no matter what position that’s what you want," Gase said. "But since Matt has been in there he’s done a really good job.”

Gase called Tannehill a "freak of nature" in his ability to recover but said the team would evaluate things "one day at a time."

Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.

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