Dolphins HC makes it clear he won't decide fate of Tua Tagovailoa’s career

The Miami Dolphins are treading lightly when it comes to how they plan to handle things with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

After suffering his third concussion since 2022 in Thursday’s 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa has been urged by many to step away from football now while he’s still young (he’s 26) before the head injuries start taking their toll on his long-term health.

With so many pushing for Tagovailoa to retire, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel made it crystal clear he doesn’t want to be the one who makes the call on what happens with his QB’s career.

“I think it's utmost priority of mine for Tua to speak to his career,” McDaniel said, via NFL.com . “I think reports are reports. I think as far as I'm concerned I'm just worried about the human being. I think I'll let Tua be the champion of his own career and speak on that.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday that Tagovailoa has no intention of retiring. Whether his stance changes after meeting with neurologists this week is a different story.

The Dolphins are in wait-and-see mode as to what to do with Tagovailoa, at least regarding his immediate future. While it’s possible he could sit out a game or two and make his return in a few weeks, that almost seems a bit irresponsible given his history with head injuries and the optics of how brutal Thursday’s injury appeared to be.

Miami could — and probably should — take the decision out of Tagovailoa’s hands, at least for now, and put him on injured reserve and make him sit out at least four games before deciding what the next steps are.

It sounds like IR is at least an option the team is considering.

“[There’s] not enough information quite yet,” McDaniel added. “That’s going to be driven by medical experts and when we get the appropriate information and discuss with Tua then [GM Chris Grier] and I can discuss that.”