Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is thankful that the Miami Dolphins kept him in the NFL’s concussion protocol for an extended period of time and, in his words, protecting him from himself.
“For concussion protocol, I think the team did me the biggest service throughout that,” Tagovailoa told USA Today (h/t ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. “They never allowed me to go through protocol normally until the season was done. So that’s why it might have seemed like it took forever, but they were just protecting me from myself. And me and my family are very thankful to the Dolphins.”
After he was placed in the concussion protocol in late December for the second time of the 2022 season, Tagovailoa missed Miami’s last three regular-season games as well as its playoff game in Buffalo.
The first trip to the concussion protocol came after scary incidents in back-to-back weeks. The first happened against Buffalo when he hit his head and then stumbled to the ground after standing up. He returned to that game, with Miami saying it was a back injury, not a head injury, that caused him to fall.
Then the following week, during a “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa hit his head on the ground and needed to be stretchered off the field. He was diagnosed with his first concussion of the season.
His issues with concussions this season have resulted in calls for Tagovailoa to consider retirement and to put his health ahead of football. He does not seem to be interested in calling it a career.
“But I think I’ve had all the information that I need to move forward with the decision that I made with me and my wife and my family, and understanding that you’re playing this sport, and understanding and knowing the precautions that these things can happen,” he said, via ESPN. “It’s football, it’s a physical sport.”
The 2022 season was a career year for Tagovailoa, throwing for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also finished with a 105.5 passer rating.
