What a way to cap off what has been such a rollercoaster season for my Miami Dolphins.
The Miami Dolphins announced Monday that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had been placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol, which set off a firestorm around the league after he played the entirety of the 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day.
The news gave many people flashbacks to September when Tagavailoa suffered his second head injury in two games and was hospitalized as a result. Several former NFL players, including Robert Griffin III, have used their current media platforms to urge the league, the Dolphins organization and Tagovailoa himself to shut down the quarterback for the rest of the season.
.@RGIII on the importance of health and safety when dealing with head injuries:
“You’ve got to put the person before the player. I’m more concerned about Tua [Tagovailoa] and his longevity of life than I am about whether he’s gonna play on Sunday.” pic.twitter.com/xgZIdyWhMJ
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 27, 2022
Man, talk about a way to wrap up what’s been an absolutely wild year for the Miami Dolphins.
They got off to such a hot start with a flashy 3-0 record. After Tua suffered the previously mentioned concussion in September, the Dolphins dropped to 3-3. Then, Tua came back, launching Miami into a five-game winning streak to shoot them up to 8-3.
The past month, however, got very real for Tua and the Dolphins. A four-game losing streak brought them down to 8-7, but didn’t quite kill of their playoff hopes. The problem is: Miami may be forced to shut down their quarterback for the rest of his season, which could effectively end theirs.
As much as I hate to say it as a Miami Dolphins fan, RGIII is right. This is now the third time that Tua has suffered a concussion this season, and with him being forced out for three weeks earlier in the campaign, you might as well shut him down. Head injuries are something that must be taken very seriously. Do we all remember the Chris Benoit and Junior Seau episodes? (RELATED: Legendary Defensive End J.J. Watt Announces Retirement From NFL)
I know it’ll kill our playoff run, but Tua’s health is far more important. For the sake of his future, it would be best to shut down Tua Tagovailoa for the rest of the season. It honestly kills me to say that, but I just feel like the Dolphins have no choice, and I think that’s exactly what they’ll do.
And now here we are: riding on the arm of Teddy Bridgewater to get us into the playoffs. The Bridgewater experiment was a horrible disaster earlier this year, and I’m expecting it to be the same as we now take on the New England Patriots and then the New York Jets to close out the regular season.
This sucks.