After Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills, the early portion of the press conference conducted by Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel focused on questions about the latest concussion suffered by Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Initially, McDaniel addressed an inquiry about the timeline for Tua’s return, including possible placement on Injured Reserve.
“Right now, I’m not really — it’s more about getting a proper procedural evaluation tomorrow and taking it one day at a time,” McDaniel told reporters. “The furthest thing from my mind is what is the timeline. I want to know — we just need to evaluate and I’m just worried about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are. We’ll get more information and take it day by day from there.”
McDaniel then was asked about the impact of Tua’s past concussions, particularly in 2022, on the handling of the latest one.
“I think it’s important to approach each and every situation to — much like [we] approach every injury, which is basically, ‘All right, we’re gonna handle this particular situation with this particular player,’” McDaniel said. “Every situation is unique to its own, so I think there’s — for me, I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands in terms of, I’m just worried about the human being and he’ll drive the ship when we get the appropriate information but it’s day by day health is what, you know, really try to approach all the stuff that way, particularly with concussions.”
The next topic turned to the broader question, which some are already asking, of whether it’s safe for Tua to keep playing football.
“I think that’s from a medical standpoint — I don’t approach things that I’m far inferior of expertise,” McDaniel said. “I’m just there to support my teammate, like I said. I think there’s — for me to go ahead and forecast things that I don’t know in my non-field of expertise, I don’t think that’s appropriate. I think we’ll find out some more information tomorrow in terms of where Tua’s at. He’ll be able to spend a good amount of time being evaluated and then we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate. But I’m — like the rest of his teammates he went around the locker room and connected with, as a leader he was trying to keep the guys’ heads up and he’ll be in the office tomorrow to have the appropriate care.”
That’s the right way to approach the situation. There are, and will be, many factors to consider. For now, the job is to get a full and complete assessment of Tua’s overall brain health. At some point, the question becomes when and if he’ll be cleared to play again.
Ultimately, the question could be whether he wants to play, if and when he’s cleared.