Whenever Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is on the field, concerns about his concussion history are not far away. And Tagovailoa knows that part of keeping himself on the field is his own responsibility.
Tagovailoa said at Dolphins training camp that he has to make keeping himself from taking unnecessary hits a top priority.
“Me not putting myself in situations where I’m not available for my team, and then we take it from there,” Tagovailoa said on NFL Network. “If I can stay healthy for our guys, I believe, and I think the team believes, that I give us the best chance to go do what we say we want to do.”
Tagovailoa missed four games early last season with a concussion, then missed the final two games of the season with a hip injury. The Dolphins went 6-5 with Tagovailoa, 2-4 without him, and missed the playoffs. Tagovailoa knows the season is viewed as a disappointment when it ends without a playoff berth.
“A lot of the guys on the team, we hear the noise, we hear all that, but it’s OK,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s OK for people to have their opinions. What are we going to do about it?”
The best thing Tagovailoa can do about it is stay healthy for all 17 games.
