Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa Practices for 1st Time Since Suffering Concussion vs. Bills

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa practiced on Wednesday for the first time since suffering his third diagnosed concussion six weeks ago.

Tagovailoa's return included throwing passes to teammates during drills, per NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe.

Tagovailoa suffered a concussion on Sept. 12 during the Dolphins' Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

He has not yet been activated from the injured reserve, but head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters on Monday the team hopes the quarterback will be able to return for Week 8 against the visiting Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

He will still need to pass the NFL's concussion protocol before he is cleared to play against the Cardinals. The last stage before that clearance is participation in "non-contact football activity," per ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques.

Tagovailoa told reporters earlier this week that he has not experienced concussion symptoms since Sept. 13, the day after the loss to the Bills, per the team's transcript.

He also said that he has been preparing "as if I was getting ready to play every game for every week" by practicing footwork and studying game plans even before returning to practice.

Tagovailoa said several times during Monday's media availability that he was willing to accept the concussion risks involved in returning to the field.

"How much risk do we take when we get up in the morning to go drive to work?" Tagovailoa asked reporters. "Get into a car crash, I don't know. Everything I think takes risk... There's just risk in any and everything and I'm willing to play the odds, that's it."

Tagovailoa will return without the Guardian Cap, the soft-shell covering players can wear over helmets that the NFL has reported is associated with reduced concussion risk. He is instead planning to wear a specialty quarterback helmet with a higher safety rating than a standard helmet with the cap over it, Louis-Jacques reported.

In six weeks without Tagovailoa, the Dolphins have gone 2-4 and scored a total of just 40 points. Should he return on Sunday he will likely be an immediate boost to the Miami offense.