We’re not sure if Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a checklist of everything he wanted to experience in his first game in eight months.
But it’s hard for that to-do list to be more comprehensive than how his 15 exhibition plays against the Houston Texans went.
Tagovailoa did it all — including take contact to the helmet — in the Dolphins’ 28-3 shellacking of the Texans. Another way to put it? There’s nothing more to prove, and he shouldn’t be exposed to one more uncontrolled rep until the season begins.
Miami Dolphins Should Sit Tua Tagovailoa in Preseason Finale
Tagovailoa not only threw an interception on the game’s first play from scrimmage, he also got jostled while making the tackle on the return.
Texans defense intercepts Tua on the first play @d_perryman52
📺: #MIAvsHOU on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/L9mPiySUki pic.twitter.com/QK7BBVQ3R4— NFL (@NFL) August 19, 2023
On the Dolphins’ first play of their second drive, he nearly had a snap sail over his head, a miscue that threw off the timing of the play and exposed him to yet another hit.
For a guy who suffered two diagnosed concussions in 2022 — the second keeping him out of the team’s playoff game — it was a nightmare start.
Thankfully, Tagovailoa was fine.
In fact, he was more than fine. He bounced back by completing five of his next six passes for 61 yards and orchestrated a 14-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that provided a glimpse of what the Dolphins could look like while operating on all cylinders.
“It was just bad play,” Tagovailoa said of his interception. “It’s really all it was. Just bad quarterback play there. It’s not how you want to start out or drive in any way you look at it.
“So it was a bad play, but like I said, I’m glad with the way we responded because the next series, you know, things were still jarred up with the first two plays and then we got into third down and things started to settle and we found our rhythm in the game.”
Can that rhythm last three weeks and a day — which is when the Dolphins visit the Chargers in the Week 1 opener? Maybe, maybe not.
But the hits Tagovailoa took in just one quarter of preseason action prove that the reward of staying sharp next week isn’t worth the risk of putting their franchise QB at risk.
That’s doubly true when Tagovailoa seems determined not to change his basic approach to the game. Some quarterbacks would have bailed out on the return and let Denzel Perryman score. Not Tua. He is who he is. His never-say-die approach has gotten him into some hairy situations.
And he doesn’t seem keen on changing his mindset.
“As a quarterback, I understand the whole outlook of, ‘OK, like if [there’s] an interception, try not to get hurt while you’re trying to make a tackle,'” he said. “But I mean, on top of throwing the interception, what’s even worse than that is the guy scoring when he intercepts the ball. So, I think for me, I’m gonna do the best that I can to make a play and, you know, if not, then so be it.”
He added: “There’s hits that you’re gonna see that you know you can fall [safely] and then there’s others where you’re not gonna be able to see and it’s how you react to it. So it’s a physical sport. It’s tough.”
He’s absolutely right. Which is why the next time he takes a hit should be Sept. 10.