Amid concern over Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel declines to offer timeline on QB’s return

Tua Tagovailoa’s family had joined him in the evaluation room.

The Miami Dolphins quarterback then joined teammates in the locker room after they all had lost 31-10 to the Buffalo Bills, as the franchise wondered how much more than a game they had lost on the night.

In the short term, the Dolphins had lost Tagovailoa for the final 19 minutes and 36 seconds of game play to the third diagnosed concussion of his career.

But could his latest football scare prompt a longer sidelining?

The Dolphins were concerned — about the father and husband and teammate whose humanity overwhelmed them, his Thursday performance fading to the background.

“I’m just worried about the human being,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said. “I was just worried about my guy. It’s not something you ever want to be a part of. You hope not to.”

The Dolphins faced fourth-and-4 in the final five minutes of the third quarter, when Tagovailoa barreled up field to convert on a quarterback keeper. He then lowered his head into Bills safety Damar Hamlin, and fell down from the force of the contact.

A horizontal Tagovailoa’s arm balled into an apparent fencing response associated with traumatic brain injury.

He limped off the field and back toward the locker room, where just a few minutes later he was ruled out with a concussion.

Opposing quarterback Josh Allen said, “you can’t help but feel for him.”

“He is a great football player but he is an even greater human being,” Allen said on the Amazon Prime postgame show. “He’s one of the best human beings on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him, praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK.

“It’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and that’s definitely one of its lows.”

Hamlin, who has his own experience with a serious medical incident on the field, also showed his support for Tagovailoa on social media.

Thursday marks the third diagnosed concussion of Tagovailoa’s career, two 2022 concussions prompting him to consider retirement that offseason.

Tagovailoa did not speak publicly while in concussion protocol. McDaniel was asked whether it’s safe for his quarterback to continue playing football.

“I think that’s from a medical standpoint — I don’t approach things that I’m far inferior in expertise,” a visibly shaken McDaniel said. “For me to go ahead and forecast things I don’t know in my non-field of expertise, I don’t think that’s appropriate. We’ll find out some more information tomorrow in terms of where Tua’s at. He’ll be able to spend a good amount of time being evaluated.

“Then we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate.”

McDaniel declined to put a timeline on Tagovailoa’s recovery, saying he would get a “proper procedural evaluation” Friday and “then take it day by day from there.”

The coach, whom Tagovailoa credits with reviving his football career after an initial stint under Brian Flores, said he spoke to his quarterback first on the field and later in the locker room. Tagovailoa was in “good spirits,” McDaniel said, but there was nonetheless concern.

McDaniel was concerned for Tagovailoa as he navigates his latest scare.

And Tagovailoa, McDaniel said, was concerned about his teammates, “trying to keep guys’ heads up.”

“I think that when something happens to an individual and you see their response is [that] he’s concerned about his teammates, that tells you everything about the type of person he is,” McDaniel said.

“He knows what he means to this team and shows a lot of awareness in this regard because he knows there are a lot of guys that are worried.

“Just another example of his character and leadership.”