MIAMI — There was a time when the Miami Dolphins were one of the best teams in the NFL, leading the AFC East. Their leader was a coach of the year front-runner. Their quarterback was going great, and headed to a Pro Bowl season. Super Bowl dreams were wafting.
Ah, those long-ago halcyon days, right?
Nah this was a month ago.
Oh how a spectacularly ill-timed four-game losing streak has turned the Dolphins’ season upside down.
And nothing has changed more, from one month ago to right now, than how we regard Tua Tagovailoa and his future in Miami.
This is the “Beginning To Wonder” column, in which I sort of poke fun at the national overreaction to Tagovailoa being back in concussion protocol while at the same time contributing to it all.
Even framed objectively,Tagoaviloa, in the span of an 8-3 season turning into 8-7 and a scramble for the playoffs, has turned from savior and long-term answer to a bit of a question mark. There has been a sharp downturn in his performance, but, far more worrisome, there has been a recurrence of the doubts about his fragility and physical state.
Miami’s late-season tailspin, too familiar to fans, recalls humorist Dave Barry’s joke that “the Dolphins are only team that an start 10-0 and finish 8-8.”
But Tagovailoa’s situation is not one to laugh about.
Wednesday, coach Mike McDaniel confirmed Tagovailoa does have a concussion (at least his second this season), and it now seems backup Teddy Bridgewater will likely start Sunday in New England.
In football there is a saying that a player’s most fundamental, essential ability is availability — the knack of staying healthy and being there for your team. With a QB that is magnified. In the push for the playoffs that is magnified.
Some of it is the position. Dak Prescott missed a chunk of the season. Lamar Jackson has been out awhile. Kyler Murray, too, and Matthew Stafford. Jalen Hurts is hurt. The NFL goes overboard to protect its quarterbacks but cannot.
Tua is not alone, and neither are the Dolphins or Dolfans in their concern.
But that concern has turned real as it now seems Miami will be without its starting QB as it desperately seeks a victory in wintry Foxborough.
After an earlier concussion this season shelved him for three games, NFL media playing doctor have urged utmost caution. For example, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III and ex-player Booger McFarland ,on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown,” said Tua should shut it down and not play again this season.
The broader concern is real, too, as the franchise must decide after the season whether to spend hugely in a long-term extension — to invest its future in Tagovailoa.
“When I’m not able to do something about it and help our team and our organization, then that just really sucks,” Tagovailoa had said in October when first out with a concussion.
Tagovailoa still is having a career year on balance, narrowly still No. 1 in passer rating and third in QBR, but his accuracy has fallen off sharply, and three fourth-quarter interceptions at home this past Sunday ruined any chance of beating Green Bay and avoiding a fourth loss in a row.
Miami is now the No. 7 (and last) seed in the AFC playoff race. The Dolphins will earn their first postseason spot since 2016 if they win the final two regular-season games, or if they win one game and the New York Jets lose at least one more game.
Jaylen Waddle and the addition of Tyreek Hill have helped Tagovailoa achieve what has been a career year.
But your receivers can’t keep you healthy.
And quarterback is a hell of an unfortunate position to play if your are prone to concussions.
I have been among Tagoaviloa’s biggest proponents. When his own team was working in the shadows to try to sign Deshaun Watson or lure Tom Brady, I was pro-Tua. When the club was quick to bench their starter for Ryan Fitzpatrick, I was pro-Tua. At the start of training camp this past July I wrote a column calling Tagovailoa The Disrespected QB About To Prove The Whole World Wrong.
Tua is 24. I still believe in his ability and in his future when healthy.
It’s the “when healthy” part that invites the doubts in.
