Read the full transcript from Tua Tagovailoa's press conference on October 21, 2024.
Q: What did the medical experts clear you for? Did they clear you for not having an advanced risk of concussion this season? When you talked to them, what did they clear you for?
"They cleared me from my concussion that I had."
Q: OK and there was no future risk?
"None of that, no."
Q: We skipped the most obvious question, how excited are you to be back to practicing this week?
"How excited are you?"
Q: Very.
"I'm very excited, too."
Q: So they cleared you from the concussion, about how long have you been symptom-free for and how long have you been cleared from that concussion for?
"I would say for myself, I'd been symptom free from the next day after the game."
Q: So all of the – I guess what was it like for you? I don't know how much attention you'd pay to it when so many people in the outside world are saying, "He should retire, don't play," this and that, while you're symptom-free the next day?
"I wasn't paying attention to any of it. None of it."
Q: You said last time you had that discussion with your family in the offseason. Did that discussion come up in the last month?
"Nope. Nope, none of that."
Q: Will you wear a guardian cap?
"Nope."
Q: Why?
"Personal choice."
Q: Will this change your style of play? Your decision to scramble or run or things like that?
"Just got to be smart, that's it. Just got to be smart. My entire time playing football, I've been a competitor and that is or was sort of my edge when I would run from high school, even in college I would do the same thing. But it's a professional setting; this is the professional level, the best of the best, you just cant be doing that. So definitely got to stay more available for the team, for the organization, for our guys."
Q: What caused the concussion? Was it hitting Damar Hamlin or when your head hit the ground?
"I don't know. Is that a good answer to that question? I don't know."
Q: What did your family say about you coming back and how deep was that discussion?
"Nobody – no one's sort of advice had affected anything that I thought in terms of returning, so no one had an effect on it. Had some conversations with my wife, but that was it."
Q: How frustrated are you to have to go through this again and to have to answer all of these questions again? It's going to be something that we'll probably ask you about…
"Hey, I'm frustrated but this is what it is. Do I want to be known for this? No, I don't but that's the cards I've been dealt with given the history of it. So it is what it is."
Q: What have you learned about this process?
"That it's not good to get concussions."
Q: Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned earlier that you're not expected to come in and kind of be the savior for this team, but you have watched, I imagine, from the sideline as the offense has struggled. How do you balance coming in and trying to spark a turnaround while also not trying to overcompensate and be a hero?
"I don't think for myself I put any pressure on myself coming back and having to save the team. I think what we have to do is we've got to look at this past game, all 11 guys on the field, were we given an opportunity with the plays that were called to score on every drive? And if we can say yes, then we can look at ourselves and see what we can do to get better moving forward."
Q: If you were symptom-free since after that game, how frustrating has it been to have to watch from the sidelines?
"It's been frustrating. Frustrating for sure, but I've tried to stay in it with meetings with the guys, trying to continue to be the leader for guys in multiple position rooms in terms of what we're looking at, how you can make the quarterback's job a little easier by doing this, by doing that and then also some nuances within the offense as well, trying to help everyone."
Q: It sounds like your peace of mind comes from the way you reacted to this concussion, like you probably felt you were fine that day or the day after. Is that where you're coming from?
"I mean yeah, it's just frustrating that I couldn't have helped in any way outside of trying to coach and just talking to guys. It's been a different type of way of leading with our guys."
Q: Do you think you should have been put on injured reserve?
"What I do know is that I think the team did what was best in the interest of me knowing that I'm a competitor, and given what the doctors have told me that having a substantial amount of time to rest and recover would have been good for me, I think they did what was best in terms of protecting myself from myself."
Q: While you were sidelined, did you notice any different way to get the ball to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle? Everybody is playing the two-high safety, did you come up with anything? Anything different from earlier this season?
"Listen, I think it's really tough to ask any of our quarterbacks to come in to do the footwork that we've been doing for the past two years, to see fast guys running and seeing the space that's there and asking them to kind of process all of that. We looked at film, we were able to see what we missed and what we could've got better with, but it's a team sport. It shouldn't take one position for this whole thing to crumble, everybody needs to be on their Ps and Qs as well."
Q: There were a lot of people out there that legitimately worried about your health and making sure that you're OK. What you would you say to those that are worried that you might get hurt again and it's just something that's going to continue?
"I appreciate your concern, I really do. I love this game and I love it to the death of me, that's it."
Q: What are those conversations like on the sideline? I see you talking to a lot of guys on the sideline, not just the quarterbacks. What have those conversations been like and even with Head Coach Mike McDaniel during the game?
"Just trying to get the pulse of the team and the guys and to be able to relay some of that information to Mike, 'Hey, we need to get this guy more involved. Hey, this guy needs to get this or that.' Or 'Did you see on the last third down what they were doing,' communicating that throughout the coaches and with what I'm hearing with the players as well."
Q: It's documented with each concussion the chance of getting one is exponentially more. Has that ever been discussed with you by doctors? Not this time and the last few times, because this is the third time you've had one since you've been with the Dolphins. Has that been discussed, and did you ask questions about that?
"Yeah, it's been discussed with me and the doctors. And I've asked questions about it, all of that."
Q: And they've said it still – that would not be an issue?
"I think the brain is – there's just a gray area when it comes to that. If you do know that you're going to get long-term disease from it, or if you're not, I just think there's a lot of gray with it. For me, this is what I love to do. This is what makes me happy and I'm going to do it, that's it."
Q: The gravity of the situation at 2-4, just thinking you guys might need to go 8-3 the rest of the way, perhaps 7-4, what does that mean to you? Do you think about that? Have you looked at the standings and thought about playoff hopes?
"It doesn't. I don't think in any of the records, what if this, what if that – focus on this week. Focus on getting a win and hoping to build off of that."
Q: Is there a scenario ever where you would envision yourself blowing back in terms of how much doctor say you should miss? Because you obviously want to continue playing, it's your life, it's your decision. Would there ever be a time where they'd say, "Because you've had so many, you need to sit out five weeks or six weeks," and you would say, "No, I'm not sitting out that length of time again," or do you think you should always defer to what the doctors advise with timetables?
"Man, I just think it's based off whatever that individual feels. If you feel like you can go, you can go. This is only – I just think this is only becoming a thing just because of what ended up happening two years ago for myself within the sport. I hate that it's happened, but we don't look at boxers the same way. We don't look at hockey players the same way, but I just think because of what happened in the magnitude that that had that it's becoming more of an issue here in the league."
Q: This latest incident, would it affect your honesty with a trainer if they asked you about your health?
"No. No, it wouldn't affect any of that."
Q: What have conversations been like between you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel? Has he kind of just deferred to medical experts and you and your family? Or has he been vocal about how he wants you to protect yourself and what that looks like for you?
"Yeah, he's been – the conversations have been more with Mike (McDaniel) and the medical experts. The same information that I've been given is the same information that he's been given around the concussion history and then the long-term health with the brain. So outside of that, he's been focused on the other quarterbacks and getting them right for the game plan and that game week."
Q: I imagine the immediate aftermath was probably murky, but what do you remember about that period of time as you left the field? And then, I think Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that you joined your family in the locker room.
"I remember everything. It was just as I was getting up to leave off the field some things were spotty, but outside of that I remember the play, I remember seeing my family, I remember everything."
Q: With your return, do you expect the deep ball and everything to be like it was? Or will it take a little bit of time for this offense to kind of find its footing do you think?
"I've been working my butt off as if I was getting ready to play every game for every week; looking over the gameplan, going out and working with the athletic staff to go stand in a spot and I throw it to them and continue to work the timing of my footwork and all that to stay in shape and just to get ready. I expect us to come out – whether we throw it deep or we don't, expect us to come out and execute all of the plays that are given to us."
Q: How long have you been throwing?
"For five weeks."
Q: You had a chance to throw with WR Odell Beckham Jr. I've heard?
"A little bit."
Q: How excited are you to get back into the flow with all the guys?
"I'm excited. I'm excited."
Q: You've said it's obviously your decision and you have so much more information than we do, but how much risk do you think you're taking to play again? Any more than the normal player?
"Well, how much risk do we take when we get up in the morning to go drive to work? Get into a car crash, I don't know. Everything I think takes risk. So to answer that question, every time we all suit up, we're all taking a risk that we could potentially get hurt, whether it's a concussion, a broken bone, anything. You get up off of the bed the wrong way, you potentially could risk you spraining your ankle. There's just risk in any and everything and I'm willing to play the odds, that's it."
