CNN
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Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was more focused on the well-being of Tua Tagovailoa than the future of the team on Friday after the star quarterback suffered another serious head injury in Thursday night’s game.

Tagovailoa was injured in the third quarter of Thursday’s 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills when he was racing for a first down and was hit in the head in a collision with Bills safety Damar Hamlin. The 26-year-old remained on the ground at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and was cared for by Dolphins trainers. Tagovailoa eventually left the field under his own power and was replaced by backup quarterback Skylar Thompson.

McDaniel told reporters Friday that Tagovailoa was asleep when he tried to call in the morning and said Tagovailoa would have his first “after action” meeting with the team’s medical experts later in the day.

“It’s important that he gets healthier day by day. And the best thing I can do is not even try to judge what that even means from a football perspective,” McDaniel told reporters in a video conference.

This is at least the third concussion the quarterback has suffered during his NFL career. McDaniel declined to speculate on the severity of Tagovailoa’s latest concussion or a timeline for his potential return to the football field.

“It didn’t really matter how severe it was,” McDaniel said. “All the science on concussions shows how delicate the time immediately after an injury is and how important it is not to create additional sources of anxiety.”

“Questioning schedules – that’s nervous,” McDaniel added. “Keeping them and figuring out what that means for playing – that’s hard work. You have to coach Tua diligently and purposefully. ‘Hey, your job is to be a dad and communicate daily.’

“We do assessments with experts in the field every day and we take care of it, and that’s all that matters.”

McDaniel also quickly avoided questions about whether Tagovailoa might be considering retiring.

“I think it would be so wrong of me to even bring this up,” McDaniel replied. “You’re talking about his career, right? His career belongs to him.”

“The most important person in this whole equation is Tua,” McDaniel said later.
“His opinion and what he wants to do with his life and career, coupled with the experts in neuroscience, are the driving forces behind these actions.”

“I’m extremely motivated to do the right thing by the person we’re talking about,” McDaniel added. “It’s not necessarily an ideal way to do business, but it’s about more than just business.”

As for the Dolphins’ future, McDaniel said the team will move forward with preparing Thompson to start in Week 3, but added that the team will also look to add another quarterback to the roster.

“The team and the organization have a lot of confidence in Skylar,” McDaniel said. “There was a reason he was our backup quarterback.”

McDaniel, 41, was hired by the Dolphins ahead of the 2022 NFL season. He has a 21-15 record and led Miami to the playoffs the past two seasons.

McDaniel has faced a number of issues during his time at the helm of the Dolphins, including star wide receiver Tyreek Hill being arrested by police last week before the team’s season opener.

The Dolphins will play again on September 22nd when the team travels to Seattle to face the Seahawks.