A minimum of Tua Tagovailoa might snigger about it.
The Dolphins quarterback, who landed on injured reserve with one other scary concussion earlier this yr, prevented a possible catastrophe Monday when he took a knee to the top whereas trying to sort out Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom together with his shoulder/head area throughout Monday’s 23-15 win.
Tagovailoa has suffered a minimum of 4 concussions in his profession and mentioned his future together with his household earlier this yr as some questioned whether or not he ought to proceed to play.
“I feel good. Everything’s good,” Tagovailoa stated after serving to the Dolphins improved to 3-6. “I went up to that dude that intercepted me and asked him, like, ‘Bro, you couldn’t just ran out of bounds or cut back? It’s like you seen me and I seen you and it’s like you just wanted to run me over. He told me after the game, ‘There’s like no room, there’s no where else to go.’ He got to do what he got to do to help his team win games. I wasn’t planning on using my head to go hit him.”
Tagovailoa’s profession got here beneath the microscope earlier this yr when he suffered a concussion in Week 2 towards the Payments that had some questioning if he had performed his final down.
The previous Alabama star has suffered three concussions within the NFL after additionally sustaining one with the Crimson Tide. His newest concussion occurred throughout a scramble when he led head-first.
With that data in thoughts, many assumed Tagovailoa would play otherwise shifting ahead in an try to attenuate potential blows.
Monday’s sort out wouldn’t fall beneath that class, although, with the quarterback choosing contact by reducing his shoulder and head and connecting with the linebacker in the course of the second quarter.
Tagovailoa indicated the clip regarded worse than the truth.
“I didn’t feel any of that. That was pretty bad tackling form, though,” Tagovailoa stated. “That was pretty terrible.”
Like his star quarterback, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel opted to joke concerning the state of affairs.
The Rams didn’t reap the benefits of the interception with Kyren Williams fumbling on the subsequent play whereas trailing, 10-0.
“I think the best way to do that is not throw it to the opponent,” McDaniel stated.
Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to a win regardless of an uneven efficiency Monday, turning the ball over twice whereas finishing 20-of-28 passes for 207 yards and one landing.
Monday marked his third sport again since being activated from injured reserve and he stated nothing has modified in how he approaches his job.
“I would say for myself, my confidence level from the time I came back against the Cardinals (Week 8) had never wavered from the first game I played against the Jaguars (Week 1),” Tagovailoa stated. “I think when you’re playing, when you’re out there, the game is too fast to think of anything else and if you start thinking of anything else, it’s hard for you to focus on your job. Just go out there and play football.”
