Tua Tagovailoa (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has the entire sports world praying for him after he was forced to leave the Thursday Night Game against the Buffalo Bills after suffering a head injury on a fourth-down scramble in the third quarter.
As we are all aware, Tagovailoa has a history of head injuries, suffering at least two concussions during the 2022 season.
Many wanted him to retire back then, but he decided to focus on being smarter about impact while gaining weight and taking Jui-Jitsu classes. It worked, as he started in all 17 games for Miami and led the team to the playoffs in 2023.
Now, Tua Tagovailoa is back at square one, having suffered his injury during the second game of the Dolphins season in the middle of a blowout loss to a division rival.
Neurologist Chris Nowinski is now painting a grim picture based on what he saw.
He says Tua Tagovailoa suffered a traumatic brain injury and pointed to his arm doing a “fencing posture,” indicating loss of consciousness.
There is no magic number of concussions to require retirement. It all depends on how he recovers from this one, but having too many concussions can lead to chronic symptoms and mental health disorders. He’s in a very tough spot.
— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) September 13, 2024
“Tua suffered a traumatic brain injury on this play, no question. His right arm shows the “fencing posture” indicating loss of consciousness & is on the severe end on the #concussion spectrum. He is done for the night and must miss the next game.”
“There is no magic number of concussions to require retirement. It all depends on how he recovers from this one, but having too many concussions can lead to chronic symptoms and mental health disorders. He’s in a very tough spot.”
How Did Tua Tagovailoa Get Back Here?
Last offseason, Tua went viral for how he bulked up his frame and started taking Jui-Jitsu classes.
It was the complete opposite this offseason as he decided to slim back down.
Both the Dolphins and Tua agreed that martial arts were working for him, but the weight was limiting his mobility. So the Dolphins asked him to drop his weight from around 235 to 220.
Tua Tagovailoa finished the 2023 season with 4,624 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions while completing 68.3% of his passes, per his stats on ESPN.
Now, those numbers will likely be nowhere close because he is sure to miss a game or two due to this recent setback.
