Tua Tagovailoa may have played his last game this season as he's out for Sunday's playoff clash against Buffalo Bills, but ESPN analyst Stephen Smith thinks his entire career could be done.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback has earned a lot of respect since entering the NFL as a fifth pick in the first round of the 2020 draft, but it's been the toughest year of his career this season. The quarterback has suffered three concussions this season alone as he's been in the wars, but the type of injury could be extremely damaging to his health.
Fans were worried for Tagovailoa's health as he seemed to suffer a concussion against the Bills earlier in the season, and he was concussed again just days later as he was controversially deemed fit to play. And after being placed on concussion protocol again and being ruled out for their first playoff clash, Smith thinks his career is in 'jeopardy'.
The Dolphins are preparing to start rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson against the Bills on Sunday, with Tagovailoa out and Terry Bridgewater fighting to return on time. Concussion protocol seems to be the story of Tagovailoa's season, and even for the toughest player, three in the space of eight weeks is tough going.
Medical experts have made their stance known, with player safety extremely topical within the NFL recently. Smith is worried for Tagovailoa, who thinks he's facing a 'serious issue'.
"I think his career is in jeopardy," Smith said on ESPN's First Take. "There's no way in hell that when he was in that game against Buffalo, and he got knocked down, got back up, and came back up again, that he should have been allowed to continue playing in that game. Four days later, four, he shouldn't have been allowed to play against Cincinnati.
"When you talk about concussion protocols or whatever, it's not about what the tests show, but also what your eyes see, that plays a role. It's a judgement call by someone other than the athlete to decide whether that athlete should be allowed on the field.
"Usually it takes about six days, they had a game in four. That's only three days in which to prepare for that fourth game. You played Sunday, then you have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and you play on the Thursday.
"There was not enough time before he was allowed onto that field against Cincinnati, he went out on that field and we all know what happened - he was carried out in an ambulance. We saw, there was grave concern. Not to the point of Damar Hamlin, but it was bad.
"This is serious stuff. When you consider [the concussions] mixed with his lack of size, how miniature he is compared to the football players on the field smacking him with their bodies and putting that collision on him, and the fact he's in that situation now, this is serious.
"I'm sorry, this is a serious, serious issue. This young brother's career is in jeopardy before it's even had the chance to get started."
