Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is doing whatever he can this offseason to attempt to avoid the type of injury issues that impacted him throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
“Offseason training’s been good,” Tagovailoa said at an event on Monday evening, per David Furones of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Been working on strength in many areas and been chipping away at things that I felt like I needed to work on to get to where I feel I can get to in the later parts of the season.”
Tagovailoa was a true Most Valuable Player candidate when healthy in his first year with head coach Mike McDaniel. According to ESPN stats, the 25-year-old finished this past regular season first among eligible players with a 105.5 passer rating and an average of 8.9 yards per pass attempt. He was third with a 68.8 adjusted QBR.
However, Tagovailoa also appeared in just 13 games and suffered a minimum of two known concussions. He spent over a month in concussion protocol following the Week 16 contest against the Green Bay Packers and missed the playoff loss at the Buffalo Bills.
Tagovailoa’s lengthy and concerning injury history caused some NFL insiders to link the Dolphins with other options such as Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson and re-retired living legend Tom Brady during the winter. Instead, Miami exercised the fifth-year option attached to Tagovailoa’s contract that guarantees him roughly $23.17M for the 2024-25 season.
As noted by Kevin Patra of the NFL’s website, Tagovailoa is hoping that practicing jiu-jitsu coupled with adding muscle will help him stay healthier through and beyond the 2023-24 campaign. For now, the 2020 first-round draft pick is remaining positive regarding his short-term and long-term health.
“I’m very excited,” Tagovailoa said about what is to come. He added that he is “smiling a lot more” than he was at this same time last year.
Those smiles may disappear if Tagovailoa is again sidelined with a head injury during his fourth pro season.
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