Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa considered retirement after suffering multiple concussions throughout the 2022 NFL season.
“I considered it for a time, having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those kind of conversations,” Tagovailoa said to reporters on Wednesday via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “But it would be really hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son.
Tua says he considered retirement “for a time” after his multiple concussions last season but:
“it would be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son — I always dreamed of playing as long as a could to the point where my son knew what he’s watching”
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) April 19, 2023
Tua Tagovailoa Suffered Multiple Concussions In 2022
Tagaovailoa entered concussion protocol twice during the 2022 season.
During a Week 3 game against the Buffalo Bills, Tagaovailoa landed hard on his head and briefly left the game, though the Dolphins said it was a back injury.
Tagaovailoa was cleared to start days later on Thursday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, the Dolphins quarterback left the game on a stretcher with a head and neck injury. Tagaovailoa did not return to action until Week 7.
Tagaovailoa’s season ended in a Week 16 loss to the Green Bay Packers after suffering a concussion. The concussion forced Tua to miss the Dolphins’ playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round, a game in which they lost 34-31.
Overall, Tagaovailoa missed five games, including the playoff loss, during the 2022 season.
Tua Tagovailoa Has Learned How To Fall Properly
Tua Tagovailoa is a white belt at jiu-jitsu. Learned how to fall. Learned some grappling techniques. They landed on crash pads and learned to tuck the chin and how to disperse energy in a fall. Correct posture. pic.twitter.com/08iN6iEe1B
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) April 19, 2023
Because of his frequent head injuries, Tagaovailoa has spent this offseason learning how to fall when he gets hit. Tagaovailoa has trained with a jiu-jitsu coach this offseason to learn new techniques on how to fall.
“We used crash pads to land on first, with trying to fall. … Tucking your chin, that was one of the deals, but it went a lot more into the technique of how to disperse your energy when you fall,” he said. “Kind of like the posture you want to be in, [and] if you’re not presented that posture, what are other things that you can do to help you disperse the energy when you fall. So, it’s a lot of those things. It’s actually a lot cooler than you think when you hear of learning how to fall.”
The Dolphins picked up Tagaovailoa’s fifth-year option in 2024 at the start of the offseason.
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