Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa 'Doing Better' After Concussion, Manti Te'o Says

Former NFL linebacker Manti Te'o says that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is "doing better" after suffering a concussion during Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL Network analyst said Wednesday on Sirius XM NFL that he had spoken with Tagovailoa's father, Galu Tagovailoa, to whom Te'o refers as "uncle."

"It's no surprise to me that he's going to try to get back, based on what Uncle Galu told me," Te'o said, per Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post.

Tagovailoa will be sidelined for at least four games after the Dolphins placed him on the injured reserve on Tuesday following the third concussion diagnosis of his NFL career.

Tagovailoa suffering the history after colliding with Bills safety Damar Hamlin while scrambling for a first down.

The Dolphins quarterback was on the turf for more than a minute before getting up and walking under his own power to the sideline. The team announced he had been diagnosed with a concussion minutes later.

Te'o, who like Tagovailoa is from Honolulu, Hawaii, had an emotional initial reaction to the hit when discussing the quarterback's injury in a Friday appearance on Good Morning Football.

"That was hard. People have to understand, this is just a game," Te'o said. "And then there's life. When you watch, when you watch a young man that you've known since a little boy go out there ... Is it hard for me? Yeah. But I can't imagine how hard it is for Uncle Galu and Auntie Diane watch their son, again, go down."

Te'o continued: "To see my brother, Tua, go down like that, it really just makes me … I want the best for Tua, the man. He's a father of two now. I want him to be able, not today, but 10, 15, 20 years down the line, to be able to raise his children, be able to walk his daughter down the aisle. That's what I want for Tua. That's true joy."

Tagovailoa missed five games during the 2022 season after suffering two officially diagnosed concussions. He was also diagnosed with a concussion in 2019 while playing for Alabama.

The quarterback will be sidelined until at least Week 8 as he seeks multiple neurologists' opinions on the injury, per ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques. The improvement reported by Te'o is good news not only for the Dolphins' hopes of seeing Tagovailoa return this season but for his overall health going forward.