The Wide World of Dirt

For the third time this season, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa has entered concussion protocol, and suffice to say, I’m growing concerned.

The third-year QB eclipsed some of the lofty expectations placed on him by talent evaluators coming into the 2020 NFL Draft, winning every game he played until the final whistle through week 12.

Tua’s MVP hopes began to lose their sheen after back-to-back bad performances in California against the 49ers and the Chargers, but it looked like he was righting the ship against the Bills.

The brutal cold and snow in Buffalo didn’t blunt Tua’s precision, throwing for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns before falling to their division rival.

The first half of their Christmas Day showdown with the Packers harkened back to the former Alabama QB’s early-season form.

Throwing for over 200 yards and a long touchdown to Jaylen Waddle in the first half, Miami’s offense was full steam ahead for the first time in weeks.

Coming out of the half, Tua looked to add more numbers to the scoreboard and the stat sheet because the Packers defense was seemingly incapable of covering the speedy tandem of Waddle and Tyreek Hill.

Little did we all know that Tagovailoa may have been suffering from yet another concussion after a hit he took near the end of the first half.

What transpired in the final 30min of Miami football can only be described as Tua doing a Jekyll and Hyde routine.

Only tacking on 120 more yards the rest of the day, Tua turned the ball over three times, allowing Green Bay to ride that momentum to a 26-20 victory.

After such a dominating first-half performance, Tua’s lack of poise and accuracy was already worrisome, and though we have a reason for it, I’m actually more worried now.

For the uninitiated, Tua suffered two concussions earlier in 2022.

The first occurred during a week 3 win against the Bills. Matt Milano delivered a late blow to Tua’s midsection, sending the young gunslinger into the turf head first.

Dolphins training staff stated that Tua’s ensuing wobbling was supposedly due to a back/neck injury (like that makes it any better!)

Because of this, Tua re-entered the game and led the Dolphins to a 21-19 win, finally conquering Buffalo after struggling against them during his first two seasons.

Tua’s return against the Bills caused immense controversy, but his performance after the hit quieted some noise with some commentators stating that it was impossible to be concussed and be as accurate as Tua was in the game’s second half.

After passing concussion protocol, Tua got the nod to play in week 4 against Cincinnati on Thursday Night Football.

The first few Dolphins’ drives went by with not much questionable play, even though Tagovailoa threw a pick to Von Bell while trying to reach Hill on a deep route.

He was nothing more than a touch off when he missed, which has been known to happen when you have a short turnaround between games.

Then, he hit his head again.

Tua dropped back on a 2nd & 7 at the Bengals 40, but the play broke down and Bengals pressure got to him.

In the resulting sequence, Bengals NT Josh Tupou pulled Tua to the ground, and his head hit the turf hard, locking Tua’s body into a raptor pose.

Another concussion in the span of five days.

A stint at a Cincinnati hospital that evening confirmed the concussion, but he was…still allowed to fly home with the team, which is usually frowned upon when dealing with a major head injury of this nature.

Coach Mike McDaniel made sure to not bring Tagovailoa back into the fold until his QB was totally healthy, dropping their next three games before Tagovailoa was cleared to play in week 7 against Pittsburgh.

Tua picked right back up where he left off, even setting a franchise record by having two games in a row with over 300 passing yards, 3TDs, and no INTs.

It finally seemed like Tua was establishing himself as a potential elite QB in the vain of Drew Brees: a shorter passer who destroys you with pinpoint accuracy and savvy playmaking rather than chucking the ball 80 yards and hoping it finds your man.

This most recent backslide shrouded those elite performances, but the playcalling and gameplan in those matchups also came into question as McDaniel leaned away from the running game, the foundation of their offense.

With seemingly his third concussion (who knows? Maybe it’s more) of the season, Tua’s future faces much uncertainty.

Drafted fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Dolphins invested in Tua to be their franchise quarterback.

His midseason form showed he was a good return on that investment, even worthy of getting his fifth-year option picked up.

Now, one has to wonder if this is sustainable.

One thing that I believe could help Tua going forward is staying in the pocket.

While the Milano hit couldn’t really be avoided (and also wasn’t properly penalized), the other two hits have started below Tua’s waist and resulted in his head whipping into the ground.

In the pocket, that would likely draw a roughing the passer penalty, and most defensive coordinators have outlawed these practices in their training programs.

Another question to be asked: Is there a way for the QB to fall that protects his head?

I would imagine there is. After a number of knee injuries to many prominent NBA players like Derrick Rose, players began to retrain their bodies when they land from going up for a basket as landing on one leg was conducive to injuries.

I think a similar dissection of how Tua is hitting the ground and how it can be avoided needs to be assessed in the offseason by Dolphins’ staff because clearly, Tua is one of the best passers in the league when his head is screwed on right and tight.

Running for the sticks is also not in Tua’s nature when the play breaks down, and perhaps he needs to learn when to tuck it and run when a play breaks down.

I certainly wouldn’t want Tua to have designed run plays like Cam Newton and Josh Allen, but there are plays this season where he has 15 yards of daylight ahead of him.

Instead he gets close to the line of scrimmage, settles in if possible, and rips it deep rather than making the smart play and protecting the football.

Ultimately, I just want Tua to be healthy and be the quarterback of my football team for many years to come because he does have elite qualities when he’s kept upright.

What I fear is that this becomes another cautionary tale like Jake Locker before him.

A highly-touted dual-threat field general out of Washington, Locker’s college play reminded some of HOF playcaller Steve Young in his prime. His sub 4.6 40 yard dash and big arm had scouts league-wide chomping at the bit to draft him, and on draft night, the Titans made Locker’s NFL dreams come true.

After an injury-addled college career that dropped his draft stock, not much changed when he came into a hard-hitting pro league, only playing 30 games over his four seasons.

The Titans didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, and Locker decided to go in a different direction in his life, dedicating himself to his religion and retiring from football.

Andrew Luck suffered from similar anguish, leaving many games on the table because of continuous bodily punishment before leaving the game altogether at the onset of 2019.

Jahvid Best burst onto the scene during his stint at California, but his concussions mounted after his first few years in the league, forcing him into early retirement.

As unpopular as it is to say this, I think the Dolphins and Tua would be best served holding him out the rest of 2022.

This team is unstoppable when Tua and the offense are cooking, but I want this success to last us for years to come.

Tyreek Hill, Mike Gesicki, and Jaylen Waddle are all under 30, so in theory, Miami still has a wide window of time to work with as long as Tua remains healthy.

It’s tough to scrap a year where it felt possible to reach a Super Bowl a month ago, but I’d rather make sure my franchise quarterback can lead us to many trips to the playoffs in the future than ruin his life and livelihood at age 24 due to head injuries.