Steve Sarkisian says Tua Tagovailoa injury 'shook me'
On Monday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian discussed his feelings after watching his former quarterback suffer a major injury during last weekend’s NFL slate.
Miami Dolphins star Tua Tagovailoa left the field on a stretcher after a major collision gave him a concussion. Tagovailoa will miss at least one week of play, if not more due to the injury.
“Our game is a beautiful game, but it is a violent sport,” Sarkisian said on Monday. “The hard part for all of us as coaching is trusting our medical staff and the advice they give us, that we’re taking care of our players and doing it in the mindset of safety first.
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“That Tua thing kind of shook me. Again, I try to do everything in our power to teach our players the proper fundamentals and techniques. We use the guardian helmets and we do all these things to try to protect our players. But in the end, when our players get hurt, that’s the hardest part competitively as a coach because I want to put my guys back out there as soon as I can but I’ve got to follow the advice of the medical people because theyr’e the experts, I am not.”
The former Alabama coordinator acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the competitive nature of the game with the need to maintain the safety of the players.
“It’s tough because that’s our game,” Sarkisian said. “It was a snapshot for almost seven days of what things can happen and why it’s important to follow the advice of the medical teams and make sure we’re teaching proper fundamentals and techniques.”
Tagovailoa ‘out’ for Week 5 versus Jets
Ahead of the game versus the Jets this weekend, head coach Mike McDaniel revealed that Tua Tagovailoa is definitely out. NFL insider Ian Rapoport shared the good news:
“#Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel announces that QB Tua Tagovailoa will be out this week’s game against the #Jets. Still in the concussion protocol.”
However, McDaniel noted that Tagovailoa’s MRI did not suggest any major issues.
“McDaniel confirms that Tua’s MRI came back clean,” Ruthie Polinsky reported in a tweet.