Dolphins’ McDaniel urges against retirement discussion after Tua’s latest concussion

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel was not in the mental space to look ahead much Friday as his focus remained on the health of Tua Tagovailoa following the quarterback’s Thursday night concussion suffered in the 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium.

At the time McDaniel held a web conference with reporters Friday morning, the coach reported Tagovailoa was still sleeping at home and was checking into team facilities later in the day for follow-up testing.

He said Tagovailoa was “highly communicative” with trainers and doctors in the locker room Thursday when he went through initial examinations after walking off the field on his own. Tagovailoa suffered the concussion when he collided head-first with Bills safety Damar Hamlin while running for a first down on a fourth-and-4 scramble in the red zone late in the third quarter.

Consistent with McDaniel’s knowledge that the best for Tagovailoa is to make sure not to add anxiety for him with larger questions, the Dolphins coach was not addressing his quarterback’s future and had little to offer in terms of the team’s perspective at the position.

“I know the facts are that he gets healthy day by day,” McDaniel said. “The best thing I can do is not try to assess what this means from a football standpoint.”

That means he’s not going to join the discussion on whether Tagovailoa will contemplate retirement after yet another case of head trauma following multiple concussions suffered in the 2022 season.

“It would be so wrong of me to even sniff that subject, and it’s more in line of actually caring about the human being and that’s something that entirely you’re talking about his career,” McDaniel said. “His career is his, and that’s something that I really, really, really wish — I totally understand it and it’s not misplaced; I totally get how that’s where people want to go to — I just wish that people would, for a second, hear what I’m saying that bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him. So I’m going to plead with everybody that does genuinely care, that that should be the last thing on your mind.

“The people whose opinions matter the most are Tua and the doctors.”

The Dolphins just recently, in late July, signed Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension that ties him to the team through 2028. The deal includes $167 million guaranteed for injury, $43 million of which has been paid in 2024.

If Tagovailoa is medically cleared to return but opts to retire, he foregoes the remaining $124 million, barring a settlement. If forced into retirement medically, the quarterback has the right to collect the $124 million.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said, last February, concussion history was not being taken into account during negotiations with Tagovailoa.

“For us, every player deals with certain things,” Grier said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “Even as you’ve seen (last) year, you look at all the quarterback injuries around the league and there are other quarterbacks and really good players that have had multiple season-ending injuries, as well. The one thing Tua did was he attacked the offseason wanting to prove that he could stay healthy. Spending the time learning to fall, with the jiu-jitsu and stuff, it paid off for him.”

Tagovailoa played every game in 2023, his first full season healthy in the NFL, which was particularly important given the tumultuous 2022 he had, with multiple concussions causing him to miss 5 1/2 games.

If and when a return to football does occur, though, McDaniel said he’s open to urging Tagovailoa to wear guardian caps, an cushioned, extra layer of padding to the helmet, in-game. The NFL allowed guardian caps to be worn in games beginning this season.

While it’s unknown if Tagovailoa will be placed on injured reserve, which would sideline him a minimum of four games, McDaniel did say he, at the very least, does not expect Tagovailoa to play the Sept. 22 game at the Seattle Seahawks.

“Everyone is counting on you to be a dad, so be a dad this weekend,” the coach said of all he wants Tagovailoa to focus on at this present time.

McDaniel revealed what he told his quarterback in the heartfelt moment where he kissed him on the side of the head as Tagovailoa exited the game Thursday.

“I told him he’s the starting quarterback of his family,” McDaniel said, “to go in the locker room, take a deep breath and see you soon.”

This story will be updated.