When you take risks with your body, you take risks with your long-term future and health. Tua Tagovailoa has had two such learning experiences in 2024. The Miami Dolphins better have learned from both.
In Week 2, Tua dove head-first into Damar Hamlin and immediately hit the ground. Four games and a bye week later, he was finally back on the field. Against the Houston Texans, Tagovailoa took another head-first dive, but it was his hip that took the punishment. Now, he and the team are paying for it.
Tagovailoa is highly unlikely to play on Sunday in Week 18, but that isn't the bigger problem. His hip status is. Tua fractured his hip at Alabama months before being drafted by the Dolphins. Miami has not seen the need to find a competent backup. They enter the final weekend with a backup and must win to have a shot at making the playoffs.
Tua spoke with the media about his current situation. He calls it frustrating, but honestly, the only thing frustrating is that he may not learn anything from this.
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In comparing this recent injury to his previous hip injury, Tua said it is different. However, that doesn't mean it is so different that the Dolphins shouldn't have concerns about him reaggravating the problem again down the road.
Tua Tagovailoa's comments regarding his health don't help his team win when they need him
Tua says he’s frustrated & compares this hip injury w/Bama hip injury pic.twitter.com/33wlbKxvMc
— Chris Perkins (@chrisperk) January 3, 2025
In another part of the interview with the media, Tua again reiterated that he has to be better at protecting himself. That is accurate, but so far, aside from taking martial arts to help him fall, he is still putting his body in harm's way by not doing one simple thing: sliding.
For the Dolphins, they need to be 100% certain of who is the best option to lead the team when Tua goes down again. It's a wake-up call to find a suitable backup, not just a guy to play a couple of series or a game or two. They need to find someone capable of taking Tagovailoa's job if it continues.
Tua doesn't need to prove to his teammates that he will fight with them. He just needs to take them to win. He can't do that if he isn't on the field. In 2022, Tua wasn't on the field when Miami made a push for the postseason and then relied on Skylar Thompson to start against the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round. This year, he won't be available for the second straight must-win game to get into the playoffs.
His teammates need him on the field a lot more than they need him to pick up a meaningless couple of yards. When he figures that out, maybe he can start protecting himself better.