Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa has stuck to his word by doing judo

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has not only praised Tua Tagovailoa for following through on his word but has also incorporated judo training into team practices.

Earlier this offseason the starting quarterback had mentioned that he would be taking judo in order to learn better ways to protect his body when falling.

‘I’ve seen a guy that has followed through on his words as much as any young man I’ve come across in my career,’ McDaniel said to the Miami Herald. 

‘You talk about going above and beyond [with] training and martial arts. We’ve incorporated it into some of the drill work we do with the quarterbacks.’ 

Tagovailoa told the Up and Adams Show in February: ‘We’ve got a plan set up. ‘I’ll be doing judo on Fridays just so I can figure out like, understanding my body and learning how to fall. Just trying to help myself.’

Miami head coach Mike McDaniel praised Tua Tagovailoa and incorporated judo into practice

Tagovailoa announced earlier this offseason that he was taking judo to learn how to fall better

Last season Tagovailoa was placed into concussion protocol on two separate occasions, although it is widely believed that he suffered three concussions throughout the season. Miami called it a back issue despite many medical experts and former players believing it to be a concussion.

While recently speaking about his concussions struggles last season, the 25-year-old QB admitted he had even considered retiring for the sake of his health: ‘I considered it for a time (retiring) having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those kinds of conversations.

‘But really it would have been hard for me to walk away from the game given how old I am. With my son, I always dream of playing as long as I can to where my son can watch what his dad does. 

‘It is my health, it is my body, I feel like this is what is best for me and my family. I love the game of football, if I didn’t, I would have quit a long time ago.’

The QB had multiple concussions last season – including a scary incident against the Bengals

The first incident occurred during a game against the Buffalo Bills where he appeared unsteady on his feet after a tackle saw him hit his head on the ground.

He was assessed at the time and cleared to play. But in the next game, he was hit hard by 6-foot-3, 340-pound Josh Tupou of the Bengals and went down with his hands in the fencing position.

He left that game on a stretcher in concerning scenes and was taken straight to the hospital. He was concussed again on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers – he was intercepted three times in that game but didn’t display symptoms until the next day when he was watching videos back.

Quarterbacks are rarely touched by other players during practice and do not get the same chances as other players to work on bracing hitting the ground.