Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke to the media for the first time since suffering a head and neck injury during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 29. Tagovailoa hit his head on the ground after being sacked and was on the ground for several moments before he was hospitalized for a concussion. The 24-year-old told reporters he doesn’t remember what happened after hitting his head and losing consciousness but does remember going to the hospital and being with his teammates the next morning.
“I wouldn’t say it was scary for me at the time because there was a point where I was unconscious, so I couldn’t really tell what was going on,” Tagovailoa said on Wednesday, per ESPN. “When I did come to and kind of realized what was going on and what was happening, I didn’t think of anything long term or short term. I was just wondering what happened.”
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Tagovailoa missed the Dolphins’ last two games but will be back in action on Sunday when the Dolphins take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. He admitted that his journey back to the team was “pretty stressful” and he had interviews with the NFL and NFLPA as part of their investigation of how his injury situation was handled.
“There’s things you can do in the locker room to keep the guys encouraged, to keep the guys going motivated,” he said. “But it sucks. As a competitor, I want to be out there with the guys. I want to be able to go out there and help our guys win games. And that’s a terrible feeling that I could only watch from the sidelines.”
Four days before the game against the Bengals, Tagovailoa suffered an apparent head injury as he was seen stumbling to the huddle after taking a big hit in the game against the Buffalo Bills. But the Dolphins determined the star quarterback suffered a back injury and was allowed to return to the game. That was one reason why the NFL and NFLPA began an investigation, but Tagovailoa is happy he can move forward and help his team win.
“I’m just really excited that I can prepare and play this Sunday,” Tagovailoa said, per NFL.com. “I think everyone is excited to go out there and compete against a really good Steelers team.” Before the injury, Tagovailoa threw for 1,035 yards, eight touchdowns and posted a 109.9 passer rating in four games.
