Sep 12, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is checked on by trainers after an apparent injury against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa clearly hasn’t learned his lesson.
Just two months ago, the NFL world was encouraging Tagovailoa to retire after watching him curl his fingers while down on the turf following a shot to the head during a 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills back on September 12.
It was the third confirmed concussion that Tagovailoa has had at the professional level, and it sidelined him for four games.
Tagovailoa vowed not to wear a Guardian Cap upon his return. He stuck to his word, which was all well and good, assuming that he would make some playstyle changes to get himself out of harm’s way.
So much for that.
After being picked off in the second quarter of a 23-15 win over the Rams on Monday night, Tagovailoa tried to bring down Los Angeles linebacker Christian Rozeboom, who had come down with the interception.
Rozeboom was running along the sideline on his return when Tagovailoa lowered his shoulder and took a knee to the side of the head. The Miami signal-caller ended up being just fine, even sharing a few light moments with reporters following the game when asked about the tackle.
“I went up to that dude that intercepted me and asked him, ‘Like bro, you couldn’t (of) just ran out of bounds or like cut back?’ … He told me after the game, he’s like, ‘There’s no room, there was nowhere else to go,’” Tagovailoa said. “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, so.”
Throughout his explanation of how things went down, Tagovailoa couldn’t stop smiling, even laughing at times—because what could possibly be funnier than another traumatic brain injury, right?
Dolphins coaches need to start getting some of the blame here, too. To continuously let Tagovailoa go out there and throw himself headfirst at opposing defenses is just plain irresponsible.
It needs to be made clear to Tagovailoa that he quite literally cannot suffer another concussion. Not only would that one likely be career-ending, but it could also be life-altering, both mentally and physically.
Surely these conversations have been had—or at least we hope that’s the case—but it looks like the message still hasn’t gotten through. Something tells us we haven’t seen Tagovailoa get knocked out for the last time.
The saddest part?
No one is going to intervene.
Miami isn’t going to bench the 26-year-old, and the NFL certainly isn’t going to step in.
For a league that says it cares so much about the health of its players, here’s a chance to possibly save one, and all it’s going to do is look the other way.
We obviously hope Tagovailoa cleans up his game in such a way that will prevent a major head injury from ever happening again.
But when he—and everyone else around him—seemsly embraces recklessness, it feels like another disaster is bound to happen.