Though Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said Tua Tagovailoa will play again this season, fans have been wondering when that return will take place. While the Dolphins prepare for their game against the Indianapolis Colts, it will be another week without Tagovailoa under center, but McDaniel does provide an update on the recovery process for the star quarterback.
The Dolphins placed Tagovailoa on the IR on Tuesday, Sept. 17 which means the first game he is available to play will be Week 8 against the Arizona Cardinals. While people such as NFL insider Adam Schefter say that Tagovailoa is expected to be back for that game, McDaniel doesn’t confirm or even say if he’ll practice next week, though expresses the recovery has been “positive.”
“So everything has been the same,” McDaniel said Friday to reporters via the team’s transcripts. “There’s been no negative; everything has been positive each and every day. And then yeah, you’d be right in that I am focused on the Indianapolis Colts who we play in 48 hours.”
Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel speaks on Tua Tagovailoa’s mindset
Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills which garnered massive speculation among the league if he should medically retire or not. However, Tagovailoa has every intention to keep playing football as McDaniel spoke Friday about the decision to place him on IR and how the 26-year old has been handling it.
“So once that’s determined, when you make that decision that is based upon the information and driven by medical experts, it’s easy to – there’s no really second guessing or even evaluation of should we or shouldn’t we have,” McDaniel said. “We should have because of medical expertise. So then you take the time to utilize the time, and I think Tua has done a great job of getting something out of a situation that is obviously not ideal. I think you don’t get to choose what you go through but you get to choose how you handle things, and he’s been unbelievably diligent, he’s been a leader while doing it. The right thing for the Dolphins with regard to medical things regarding players is based upon the medical expertise, for sure.”
At any rate, the Dolphins are 2-3 which put them second in the AFC East behind the Buffalo Bills at 4-2 as they prepare to keep the ship afloat against the Colts Sunday until Tagovailoa returns possibly on Week 8 to breathe life back into the season.
