Tua Tagovailoa returned to Dolphins practice this week after missing the last four games in Miami due to a concussion and expects to be available for Sunday's game against the Cardinals, saying, “I'm not playing against the odds.'' I'm going to do it,” he said.
The Dolphins QB suffered the third horrific concussion of his NFL career in Week 2, and football experts and fans alike openly questioned whether Tagovailoa should return to football.
Tagovailoa was cleared by medical professionals to return to the field and told reporters on Monday that he was free of concussion symptoms the day after the night game against the Bills on Thursday, Sept. 12.
Now back on the field, he said he needs to be “smart” with his style of play.
“We have to be smart,” Tagovailoa said. “While playing football, I was always a competitor and that was my strength coming out of high school and I did the same thing in college. But it's in a professional setting. This is what it's like to be a professional level, the best of the best, and you can't do that. So it's definitely something that we have to be more available to the team, the organization, and the players.”
After this concussion, many former players called for Tagovailoa to retire, but the QB said he was “not concerned” with any outside noise and never discussed stepping away from football with his family. He said there wasn't.
He told reporters he had discussed his return “to some extent” with his wife, but nothing beyond that.
Tagovailoa's concussion history in the NFL includes two diagnosed concussions in 2022, and a third concussion in the same year that caused the NFL to change its policy on how concussions are reported.
Playing after a concussion comes with risks, but Tagovailoa didn't seem to mind.
“I think the brain is. There's just a gray area when it comes to that,” he said. “I think there's a lot of gray in this disease, whether you know you're going to have a long-term illness because of this disease or not. For me, this is what I want to do. This is what makes me happy. It’s what I do and I’m going to do it, that’s it.”
And while Tagovailoa has expressed gratitude to those who have expressed concern for him, he has previously said he doesn't care about the risks and that there are many risks in what he does every day.
“So how much risk do you need to take when you wake up in the morning and drive to work?” Tagovailoa said. “If you're in a car accident, you don't know. Everything I think about comes with risk. To answer that question, every time we put on a suit, there's a chance we could get an injury, like a concussion or a broken bone. You're taking a risk. If you get out of bed the wrong way, you risk spraining your ankle. There's a risk in everything, and that's it.”
The Dolphins found themselves in a tough spot after losing Tagovailoa to injury just two games into the season.
Miami has lost three of its last four games and is 2-4 in the AFC East.
