Nick Saban: Tua Tagovailoa's NFL Future Is a 'Medical Decision' After Concussion

Tua Tagovailoa's college coach hopes the Miami Dolphins quarterback will follow whatever advice he receives from doctors after suffering another concussion during Thursday's 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show (starts at :40 mark), Nick Saban explained that Tagovailoa's NFL future has to be determined by a "medical decision" from his doctors based on the information they glean from his test results.

Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in the third quarter when he lowered his head on a scramble for a first down. He ran into the chest of Bills safety Damar Hamlin before falling to the turf.

Skylar Thompson finished the game for Miami at quarterback. Head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters on Friday he didn't want to get into any speculation about Tagovailoa's playing future:

"I think it would be so wrong of me to even sniff that subject, and it's more in line of actually caring about the human being. You're talking about his career—his career is his ... I just wish that people would for a second hear what I'm saying, that bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him. So, I'm going to plead with everybody that does genuinely care that that should be the last thing on your mind because you don't, what do you think?"

This marks the third time since the start of the 2022 season that Tagovailoa has been officially diagnosed with a concussion.

During the 2022 season, the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to update the league's concussion protocol in response to Tagovailoa being allowed to reenter a Week 3 game against the Bills after suffering an apparent head injury.

The Dolphins initially reported Tagovailoa was being evaluated for a head injury, but McDaniel said during his postgame press conference his quarterback was dealing with a lower-back issue.

Tagovailoa corroborated the story: "Kind of got my legs caught under someone, they were trying to push back and it felt like I hyper-extended my back or something. It kind of hurt. I got up, and that's kind of why I stumbled. My back kind of locked up on me. But for the most part, I'm good. Passed whatever concussion protocol they had."

Last season marked the first time in Tagovailoa's career he started every game since entering the NFL in 2020.

Saban coached Tagovailoa at Alabama for three seasons from 2017 to '19. He went 20-2 as a starter and appeared in 32 games. Tagovailoa finished second to Kyler Murray in Heisman voting for the 2018 season.