Tua praised for protecting self, but Fins fall short

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn't lead the team to victory in his first game back from injured reserve Sunday, but he did display a willingness to protect himself that his teammates, coaches and fans hoped for.

Tagovailoa completed 28 of 38 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown in his first game since suffering a concussion on Sept. 12 and drew loud praise from the home crowd when he was introduced before the game. The crowd cheered even louder in the third quarter, when Tagovailoa slid after picking up a first down on a 13-yard scramble.

The quarterback said it was "super cool" to hear the crowd's reaction and said that protecting himself when he returned was a point of emphasis during his time on IR.

"I'm just trying to avoid the big hits if I can. Sometimes they're unavoidable," he said. "If there's a free rusher and you got to get the ball out, you take a hit, but just for me putting myself in those situations, I would say just obviously for the past five weeks, I have been able to just really think and ponder about my decisions."

Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion when he lowered his shoulder into Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during Miami's Week 2 loss. His helmet hit Hamlin's arm, and his body entered a fencing posture.

Dolphins players and coached emphasized to Tagovailoa over the past month the importance of avoiding unnecessary contact; wide receiver Tyreek Hill even suggested Dolphins fans cheer for Tagovailoa whenever he does slide.

Message received.

"My reaction was 'I think he's going to get the first down.' I'm pretty sure what he's going to do, but you never know until it happens," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. "When he's mindful and not trying to run defenders over, he generally is able to stay pretty healthy. So, I was excited that he didn't hesitate and that he was very convicted in how he approached space, found space, and he got himself down."

McDaniel said he wasn't necessarily "relieved" to see his quarterback exit the game unscathed, because that would imply that he was nervous about it to begin with. He instead said the game played out how he envisioned, in that regard.

Miami employed its trademark quick passing offense, with Tagovailoa attempting 24 of his 38 passes in 2.5 seconds or less.

Tagovailoa's return sparked life into a Dolphins offense that ranked dead last in scoring entering Sunday's game. Against Arizona, the Dolphins scored multiple touchdowns in a single game for the first time since Week 1, recorded their highest yardage total (377) since Week 1 and had their highest scoring total of the season.

Still, it wasn't enough to avoid the 28-27 loss to the Cardinals on Chad Ryland's last-second, 34-yard field goal.

"It feels good to be able to come back and play with my teammates," Tagovailoa said. "To hopefully help in whatever way I can to get a spark going for us offensively or get the mojo going for the entire team. It feels good, but a tough loss today against a really good team, so that diminishes not just what I've done, but a lot of what other guys have done individually as well."

Even with a 2-5 record, the Dolphins remained in second place in the AFC East after the New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets 25-22 on Sunday. All three teams are at least three games behind the division-leading Buffalo Bills, although Miami will have the opportunity to cut into that deficit when it travels to Buffalo in Week 9.

Tagovailoa said "there's always time" to turn a season around, despite the Dolphins' worst start under McDaniel, and referenced the team's 8-1 finish to the 2021 season after starting 1-7, narrowly missing out on an AFC playoff berth.

"No disrespect to my other teammates, but I'm talking about the talent that we have here -- we didn't have half that talent [in 2021]," he said. "So, to give that group respect, we won the next [seven] games. I'm not saying we're going to do that or whatnot, but it is possible. Anything's possible. So, we're going to continue to trust each other, lean on each other, believe in each other, and we're going to go do it next week."