The Miami Dolphins are like everyone else when it comes to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa: Just please don’t get hurt again.
And it’s not so much that they are worried about the typical NFL injuries, it’s obviously the concussions. He’s had three of them in his professional career and many thought he should have put the cleats away following the latest head smashing in 2024. But, he’s a gamer, so there’s that.
So, when there is talk about teams playing starters in the preseason, his name really shouldn’t even come up. Yet, he said recently that he’d actually like to get more work in these meaningless games.
“I’d definitely love to get some preseason snaps in. No doubt,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s a new season, it’s a new year. Got to get things tuned in with the guys again, all of that. I don’t think I’m better than anyone on this team or think I’m too cool to get reps in during preseason games. Nah, I don’t mind that at all. I would love that.”
Too cool to get preseason snaps? No one ever even suggested that. Where did you hear that? And, that’s great that you would love more work, Tua. But, the reality is that any on-field rep could be your last.
As fellow Heavy writer Daniel Arwas so succinctly stated to me, Tua is the “last person I’d put into preseason.” Can’t really sum it up any better than that.
Tua Tagovailoa has steadily gotten less preseason reps throughout his career
NFL writer Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com notes that Tua’s preseason snap counts have been less and less with head coach Mike McDaniel.
“Under coach Mike McDaniel, Tagovailoa’s preseason snaps have decreased in each of their first three seasons together,” Louis-Jacque writes. “He attempted 15 preseason passes in 2022, 13 in 2023 and 5 in 2024.”
Tua hasn’t played in an actual game since suffering a hip injury on December 22nd. He fought his way back from an early-season concussion just in time to get hurt again. Whether it’s a concussion or not, his injury history suggests that he should be kept in bubble wrap until September.
The Miami Dolphins are completely different without Tua Tagovailoa
The problem with losing Tua (other than the obvious reasons of, you know, not having your starting quarterback) is that the offense goes into the toilet when he doesn’t play. McDaniel designed his complex offense around his skill set, which includes anticipation and accuracy. Without Tua? Well, you get what the Dolphins got in his absence in 2024.
In late November, Alanis Thames of NBC 6 in South Florida noticed the stark contrast following a win over the New England Patriots.
“During quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s four-game absence, the Miami Dolphins looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL,” Thames wrote. “They averaged just 10 points per game while going 1-3 and surpassed 150 yards passing just once.
“The Dolphins have appeared to be a completely different team since Tagovailoa’s return from a concussion in Week 8, winning three straight games while scoring 30 points twice.”
It’s tough to articulate is much better than that. She went on to note that his backups just can’t get it done.
“Sunday’s game showed the huge drop off in play when Tagovailoa is not running Miami’s offense,” she wrote. “Backups Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley were not able to efficiently run Miami’s offense while Tagovailoa was out, resulting in short drives and an inability to string together any momentum. Thompson played one snap on Sunday, which was the handoff to Wright that the running back fumbled in the fourth. Tagovailoa came back in after that.”
With Tua out, the Dolphins aren’t a pretty picture. It’s noble (I guess) that he wants more reps in the preseason, but the risk of his health is not worth the “upside” of him being a little bit sharper come Week 1.
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