Legendary Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jason Kelce has given his take on Tua Tagovailoa, who has been told to retire after suffering at least three concussions over the last two years
Jason Kelce has insinuated that he completely understands Tua Tagovailoa’s decision to continue playing and not retire after numerous players and doctors had told him to do so after suffering another concussion.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback suffered a concussion in the Dolphins second game of the season which saw him go to into the ‘fencing response’ for the second time on the football field – an involuntary physical position that is occurred after a traumatic brain injury.
It was at least the third concussion that Tagovailoa has suffered on the field, with many arguing him to have had at least one other – in the 2022 season that was officially ruled as a back injury. Tagovailoa is also believed to have suffered head injuries at college with Alabama.
But despite being told he should walk away from the game, it appears he has no desire to do so – already working towards being back in week 8 while travelling with the team on an eight-hour plane journey against the Seattle Seahawks just 10 days after suffering the concussion. And despite understanding why some have called on him to retire, Kelce has stated why he too would find it hard to do so.
“Listen, I’m not a medical expert, so I’m definitely not going to weigh in on what he should do,” he said. “But I think as a person, you look at this and you want what’s best for the individual. You want physically what is the best thing for them. But as a player, the competitive side of it, I can’t imagine having to make the decision I made when I made it last year [retirement] earlier than when I was ready to.
Tua Tagovailoa seemingly has no intention of retirement
“I got to enjoy a full career, and I was done when I made that decision. Tua’s not in that position. And you can tell the competitive nature that he has is the same that we all have. This is not an easy decision. And I think he should weigh in all the medical evaluations and experts in these fields who know it. But yeah, it’s a decision that is not easy.”
While Tagovailoa is looking to get back as soon as possible, the Dolphins themselves may make the decision for him should they continue to struggle – dropping to a 1-3 record after losing to the Tennessee Titans. It may be beneficial for Miami to bench their franchise quarterback, enhancing their NFL draft capital if they are to be in a position in which they find themselves too far out from making the playoffs by week 8.