Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said in his Friday news conference that he didn’t want to talk about Tua Tagovailoa’s future in the game after the quarterback suffered another concussion on Thursday night.
But another team’s head coach — and former player — was asked about Tagovailoa and had a much different response.
“I’ll be honest, I’d tell him to retire,” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said in his Friday news conference. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. Played the game, I haven’t witnessed anything like I’ve seen that’s happened to him three times. Scary. You can see right away, the players’ faces on the field. You can see the sense of urgency to get Tua help.
“I just think that at some point, he’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football. Take care of your family.”
Tagovailoa, 26, exited Thursday’s game in the third quarter after lowering his shoulder and running into safety Damar Hamlin on a fourth-down scramble.
Pierce is not Tagovailoa’s head coach. But particularly because he’s a former player, Pierce’s comments on Tagovailoa carry significance.