Tua Tagovailoa is back. That’s good news for him and the Dolphins. The basic reality remains that he’s returning to a sport that has concussions at the top of the list of potential injuries that might be experienced.
For a player who suffered three (and likely four) concussions in less than two years — two of which triggered the fencing posture — it’s not a matter of when and not if. And with extended absences after each of his last two, it’s critical for the Dolphins to be prepared for the next one.
After his latest, they weren’t. Only Tua can run the offense. None of the backups were able to handle the timing-based, shell-game distribution of the ball behind the line of scrimmage. None were able to get the ball to Tyreek Hill on a consistent basis. None were able to give the offense a kick in the ass.
Tua’s new contract carries a three-year commitment. The Dolphins need to have a high-end backup for the duration of that stretch. Really, for as long as Tua is the team’s starting quarterback, the Dolphins will be crazy not to have someone who can step in and go.
It’s unclear why they didn’t have someone ready to go who could score points and win games. Maybe they didn’t want Tua to feel threatened by a backup who might be almost as good as Tua.
If that was the case, those days need to end. They can’t tiptoe around Tua. They need to have a No. 2 who might be as good as Tua, because they need to assume they’ll need that guy after any given play of any given game.
That’s not unfair to Tua. It reflects common sense.
The Dolphins haven’t been smart enough in the past. At this point, it would be the height of stupidity to not have a better backup plan for a quarterback who have a documented availability issue that could pop up again, at any time and without warning.
