Tua Tagovailoa could be out for the entire season to give him time to consider retirement following his latest brutal concussion, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback suffered the third serious head injury of his career in a loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, and was immediately ruled out of the game.
He is expected to be sidelined for the foreseeable future, and now a source close to the team has revealed that he may even have played the final game of his career.
“It appears the Dolphins could sit out Tua for the entire season to give him time to consider retiring from the NFL,” the source told DailyMail.com.
‘Recovery and emotions are at an all-time high right now and no immediate decisions will be made, but after this latest concussion, the likelihood of the NFL and the Miami Dolphins strongly recommending he retire is almost definite.’
Tua Tagovailoa could be out for the season for the Dolphins after his concussion
The quarterback headed toward Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin on TNF.
Tagovailoa himself, for his part, is staunchly opposed to the recommendation to hang up his boots and is desperate to prolong his career despite his latest injury.
“Tua is convinced that he would like to continue playing,” the source continued. “Once he gets better, he wants to be on the pitch.”
“It’s going to be a long road for people to convince him to retire, he doesn’t want to retire at all.”
Tagovailoa was knocked down by a brutal hit to the head from the Bills’ Damar Hamlin on Thursday night, and immediately had to fight back with fencing as other players desperately called for medical attention.
He left the field under his own power, but was visibly shaken, and it took doctors less than six minutes to diagnose him with a concussion.
Players knelt as medics rushed to Tagovailoa’s aid after his third concussion.
As the quarterback left the field, Mike McDaniel gave him an emotional kiss on the head.
Tagovailoa has already suffered three known concussions in the NFL after his 2022 season was cut short by head injuries.
In Week 3 of that year, he was hit by a nasty tackle and had to fight back, but he later returned to the game.
In Week 4, he again exhibited concussion symptoms after another brutal hit and was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Later in the season, in Week 16, he suffered another concussion, which ended his season and prompted a change in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Tagovailoa did not miss a game in the 2023 season after bulking up over the summer, but he showed up for the most recent preseason with a significantly slimmer frame.
Now the Dolphins quarterback is being seriously urged to consider hanging up his cleats.
Tagovailoa is said to be desperate to continue his NFL career despite another head injury.
Speaking after the game, head coach Mike McDaniel took a different stance than many on the future of his star quarterback.
“I think it would be a mistake for me to even bring that up,” the 41-year-old said when pressed about the possibility of Tagovailoa retiring from the game.
“It’s more about caring about the human being. You’re talking about his career. His career is his own.
‘I completely understand why people want to get to that point. I just wish, for a second, that people would listen to what I’m saying: that talking about his future is not what’s best for him.
‘I’m going to ask everyone who really cares to let that be the last thing on their mind.
‘If I answered that question and he read it, whether he agreed or not, that would make it worse.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate because of my concern and consideration. I don’t think those kinds of conversations are appropriate when talking about someone’s career… I think it’s only fair that their career is decided by themselves.”