Tips, predictions and best bets for the second week of the NFL
USA TODAY Sports’ Lorenzo Reyes is back with his best NFL picks for Week 2 of the NFL season.
The Miami Dolphins will not play again until September 22nd, but this break will certainly not stop speculation about the football future of their injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa – and could even fuel it.
The Pro Bowler suffered at least the third concussion of his five-year NFL career in Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, displaying the same “fencing reaction” he did two years ago when he was ejected from a prime-time game in Cincinnati.
Tagovailoa was ruled out of the game against Buffalo almost immediately after leaving the team because his concussion diagnosis came unusually quickly compared to the usual timeframes for most players who sustain a head injury during a game. The circumstances of his latest setback unsurprisingly led to Tagovailoa, 26, who is married and has children, being asked almost immediately to seriously consider retirement.
“It’s so sad, the guy just got his paycheck,” Pro Football Hall of Fame member Tony Gonzalez said on Prime Video’s postgame show immediately after Miami’s loss.
“It was great to be Tua and it Is It’s great to be Tua. But I look at these concussions,” Gonzalez continued. “If I were him, I would seriously consider quitting football at this point. If that was my son, I would say, ‘Maybe it’s time.’ You shouldn’t mess around with that kind of stuff.
“Tua’s future? I’m thinking about retirement.”
After setting personal bests with 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2023, Tagovailoa, a first-round draft pick out of Alabama – where he suffered another concussion – signed a four-year contract extension in July worth up to $212.4 million, with $167 million guaranteed. But money, stats and wins took a big backseat Thursday night.
“The last thing on my mind is, ‘What’s the schedule like?'” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said when asked if Tagovailoa would likely end up on the injured list, which would mean he would miss at least four games and could not play until at least Oct. 27. (Miami has a bye in Week 6.)
“We just have to evaluate the situation and worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys. We’ll get more information tomorrow and then take it day by day.”
Still, there is little doubt that Tagovailoa’s circumstances are far more serious than those of a player suffering from chronic knee or shoulder problems.
“There are so many injuries we can operate on, there are so many things we can fix,” said Prime Video analyst and longtime NFL offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth.
“But a head trauma and a knockout on the field? There’s really not much you can do. You can’t go to a doctor and say, ‘Hey, fix my brain and the damage I did to it.'”
Like many of his teammates, Dolphins backup quarterback Skylar Thompson was unsettled after seeing his teammate once again lying on the turf – and after a seemingly relatively routine and harmless tackle by Bills safety Damar Hamlin, whose shoulder came into contact with Tagovailoa’s helmet.
“I tell you what, it makes me sick,” an emotional Thompson said afterwards.
“I like Tua a lot and have built a great relationship with him. And I care more about the person than the player – anyone in the organization would say the same thing.”
Buffalo superstar quarterback Josh Allen also expressed his concerns, while current and former players in the league responded on social media platforms.
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“You just can’t help but feel sorry for him. He’s a great football player, but he’s an even greater human being,” Allen said of his AFC East rival and fellow teammate. “He’s one of the best human beings on the planet. I have a lot of love for him, pray for him and his family and hope everything is OK.”
“It’s tough, man, this game of football we play – it has its ups and its downs. And this is definitely one of the lows.”
And the inherent danger of the game will surely continue to feed the opinion, already expressed after Tagovailoa’s previous head injuries, that continuing his career is not worth the risk.
“I hope he can do whatever he wants to do,” said former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, another current Prime Video NFL analyst, suggesting retirement may be the best option for the young quarterback.
“If I’m him, then I think you need to go home.”
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
