After suffering a concussion in Week 2 in a Thursday night game against the Bills, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was placed on injured reserve five days later and returned to practice Wednesday.
Amid persistent speculation about his future, Tagovailoa said Wednesday he won’t wear a Guardian Cap for additional protection and told the media, “I appreciate your concern. I really do. I love this game, and I love it to the death of me. That’s it.”
Much of the conversation has been about Tagovailoa protecting himself better when he runs, a point acknowledged by head coach Mike McDaniel.
“I think he has a better understanding of his responsibility towards the entire organization at this point and feels tremendous responsibility to do anything in his power to be on the field, so part of that is protecting yourself,” McDaniel said. “He has to be able to protect himself, regardless of the first-down conversion that he’s trying to get, for him to be on the field with his team that he needs to be smart about how he engages in contact.”
Tagovailoa remains in concussion protocol and McDaniel said before practice, “I feel very good about how he attacked this whole process and how he came out of it to this day. And you hope for a couple days of good work so then you have no blips, and you’re cleared to play.”
The Dolphins released their first injury report of the week on Wednesday. The full details are below.