Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa discusses mindset shift after latest injuries

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed six games last season due to injury setbacks that resurrected conversations about whether or not he can be a long-term answer for any NFL club. 

On Tuesday, Tagovailoa spoke with reporters about how he's using portions of springtime drills to work on when to give up on plays to avoid taking the kind of hits that have sidelined him during his career. 

"I think that's why you have practice - and it starts in practice," Tagovailoa explained, as shared by Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. "I've got to sort of shift my mindset...this isn't just practice where guys can't hit me. You got to take it into a sense where if this guy's here, get the ball out, and if I'm scrambling and this guy's getting close, not to just hold onto it, knowing they can hit me if it was real football. Just throw it away or run and then just stop to signify it to slide, if you will - but I think it's the transition and focus of bringing that game-like feel into practice."

Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4M deal last summer but then suffered his third reported concussion since the fall of 2022 in Week 2 of the 2024 season. Multiple noteworthy members of the NFL community said at the time that Tagovailoa should retire due to concerns related to his history of head injuries, but he ultimately returned to action after he sat out just four games. 

During Miami's Week 10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in November, Tagovailoa took a knee to the helmet when he lowered his head to make a tackle following an interception. He later missed the campaign's final two contests because of a hip injury. 

"It's knowing when is the time to give up on a play," Tagovailoa added. "And I would say the longevity for me to be on the field with my guys is more important than whatever that one play is. You have more quarters than there would be within just that one play that I'm trying to show the guys that I'm competitive and whatnot, and I know they know that, but it's just a nature, it's a nature thing. It just comes natural to me to compete in that sense. And that's just the thing I fight with every time."

Tagovailoa will need to win such battles to ensure that he takes the majority of the team's offensive snaps during the upcoming season. Meanwhile, some think Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel could be in danger of losing his job if he ends his fourth campaign in charge without a single playoff victory on his resume.