Tua Talks Hip and What's On His Agenda

There are, as usual, things that Tua Tagovailoa has been trying to work during the Miami Dolphins offseason program and one of them is very simply: Learning when to say when.

Tagovailoa spoke to South Florida media after minicamp practice Tuesday for the first time since January 3, which was two days before the Dolphins' season finale against the New York Jets and after he had been ruled out for the game.

The hip injury that sidelined him for the final two games of the season naturally led off the round of questions.

And in regards to the most important question, Tagovailoa said there was no concern of the injury "popping up" again, unless he takes another big shot.

And that means protecting himself by not taking unnecessary risks and learning when to give up on a play. And adopting that mind-set, Tua said, is a key — even at this time of year.

“Well, I think that's why you have practice and it starts in practice," I gotta sort of shift my mindset of this isn't just practice where guys can't hit me. You gotta 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 on to it knowing they can hit me if it was real football. Just throw it away or run and then just stop to signify to slide, if you will. But I think it's the transition and focus of bringing that game-like feel into practice."

TUA'S INJURY ISSUES OF 2024

As all Dolphins fans know, Tagovailoa missed six starts last season, the first four after he was placed on injured reserve with the concussion he sustained against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2 and the last two after taking a hit at the end of a scramble against the Houston Texans in Week 15.

Tagovailoa was able to play and complete the Week 16 game against the San Francisco 49ers, but then was unavailable for the final two games against the Cleveland Browns and Jets.

Tagovailoa said the hip started to feel "a little better" in February. He added that doctors were able to pin down the exact nature of the injury, though he wasn't willing to share that information.

The six games missed brought his total of missed starts because of injuries to 15 games in his five-year NFL career, with 2023 remaining as the only season he started every game.

The Dolphins' record in the 10 games that Tagovaila has missed because of injury the past three seasons is 3-7, so he understands the importance of staying in the lineup.

"Doing everything I can to stay available for the guys," he said. "Like I said before, in the past, nothing changes with that. It's knowing when is the time to give up on a play. 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 thing. It just comes natural to me to compete in that sense. And that's just the thing I fight with every time.”

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