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Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban expressed concern about Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s long-term health ahead of his return from the third diagnosed concussion of his professional career.
“I’m concerned that I want Tua to be safe, and healthy, and not have a football career that’s going to impact him down the road, number one,” Saban said Friday on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show. “Number two is, I think organizationally this is a medical decision, this is not an organizational decision. People will look at him and say, why are they letting him play? I think the doctors make that decision. I think it’s a medical decision.
“Then, for him, it becomes personal then, as to, I really want to play, I’m a competitor, I love playing, I want to play. So he has to make a decision, is the risk-reward from a medical standpoint worth it to you? And I think all those things are in play now. If he wants to play, which I’ve talked to him, and I know he wants to play, I know what kind of competitor he is, then I’m happy for him that he’s having the opportunity to play. But I also pray for him that he doesn’t have any issues.”
Tagovailoa, who suffered his latest concussion in Week 2, cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol on Friday. He is expected to start on Sunday during the Dolphins’ Week 8 contest against the visiting Arizona Cardinals.
Clearing concussion protocol involved an examination from an outside neurological professional not affiliated with the NFL or the Dolphins, Tashan Reed and Amos Morale III reported for The Athletic.
Tagovailoa, who was placed on injured reserve five days after the Week 2 injury, told reporters on Monday he had been symptom-free since the day after he suffered the concussion and downplayed the long-term risks involved with suffering multiple brain injuries.
When asked by reporters how much risk he believed he was taking by returning to the field for Week 8, Tagovailoa responded, “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.”
The Dolphins quarterback continued, per the team’s transcript: “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.”
Saban coached the quarterback at Alabama, where the two won a national championship in 2017. Tagovailoa was also diagnosed with a concussion during his third season with the Crimson Tide prior to entering the 2020 NFL draft.
The former Alabama coach said in an earlier appearance on the Pat McAfee Show that he had spoken with Tagovailoa “right after” the concussion.
“He’s good. He’s always positive and, you know, very enthusiastic… He really wants to play,” Saban said on Oct. 11. “Whether he can ever play or get the opportunity to again, I guess that’s a medical decision somebody has to make.”
Once Tagovailoa received medical clearance to return to the field, only the quarterback himself could make the decision to keep him away from the game. Tagovailoa, who told reporters earlier this week that he had not considered retirement during his time on IR, is now set to return to the field on Sunday.
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