Just a few weeks ago, many were wondering if Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa would retire from football after suffering his third documented NFL concussion. Tagovailoa was placed on injured reserve, met with neurologists and said he never considered retirement.
The 26-year-old said he was never advised to retire. He suffered the concussion on Sept. 12 against the Buffalo Bills and returned for the Dolphins’ Oct. 27 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.
Due to his history with head injuries, there is an added spotlight on the quarterback with each hit he takes, or in Monday night’s case, with each tackle he makes. It is no surprise that fans would be extra nervous when they see Tagovailoa make any contact with his head.
On “Monday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Rams, Tagovailoa threw an interception in the second quarter. His pass intended for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was intercepted by linebacker Christian Rozeboom, who took off and was in Dolphins’ territory as he ran down the sideline.
Tagovailoa lowered his body to make the tackle and appeared to take a knee to the head in the process.
Here’s a look at the pick and the tackle by Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa didn’t appear shaken up after the play and did not miss any time, but the tackle was risky. He joked after Miami’s 23-15 win that it “was pretty bad tackling form” while relaying that he’s fine. The quarterback also said that he wasn’t planning on using his head to make the hit.
“I feel good. Everything’s good,” Tagovailoa said afterward. “I went up to that dude that intercepted me. I asked him, ‘Bro, you couldn’t have just ran out of bounds or cut back?’ I was like, ‘You saw me and I saw you; you wanted to just run me over?’ He told me after the game, he’s like, ‘There was no room. There was nowhere else to go.’ He gotta do what he gotta do to help his team win games. I wasn’t planning on using my head to go hit him.
“I think when you’re playing, when you’re out there, the game is too fast for you to think of anything else.”
Of course, Mike McDaniel likely wasn’t thrilled to see his quarterback tackling opponents head first, but acknowledged this is a learning opportunity while also offering a cheeky solution to his tackling approach.
“No, I think the best way to do that is to not throw it to the opponent,” McDaniel said. “These are the moments that I can feel the growth from the three years the most. When something doesn’t go well, he gets so mad at himself and holds himself to a high standard but he is also recognizing that he’s the franchise quarterback of this team. So, you can’t go too deep into your own self-lashing. You have to lead, and you have to move on from things good or bad. I thought he did a very good job of taking those L’s, so to speak, and not having it affect his play as he progressed and moved forward through the game. I was very happy with that.
“I’d prefer not to have the adversity, but that’s not really the case in NFL football. You have to be ready to pick yourself back up and go at it with gusto.”
Tagovailoa finished the game completing 20 of his 28 passes for 207 yards, a touchdown and an interception.