In the third quarter of the Miami Dolphins’ matchup against the Houston Texans on Saturday, Tua Tagovailoa threw a pass to wide receiver Grant DuBose. DuBose then suffered an incredibly hard hit to the head from Calen Bullock.

DuBose ended up getting his jersey cut off by the medical staff, and the entire team gathered around him and prayed before he was taken off the field.

Following such a devastating injury to a wide receiver in just his second appearance since the beginning of the 2024 regular season, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke to the media and suggested that he could have perhaps done a better job of keeping the youngster out of harm’s way.

DuBose was selected by the Green Bay Packers back in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft after he played college football at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his second and final season with the program, the 2022 season, he racked up 792 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns.

But DuBose never played a regular-season contest with the Packers organization, and he had just one reception this season before he went down with his head injury. That reception came in a loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 12. Ironically, Tagovailoa exited that contest with a concussion and subsequently sat out for Miami’s next four games.

To quite literally add insult to injury for the Dolphins, Miami lost Sunday’s contest by a final score of 20-12. Plus, Tagovailoa probably put together his worst performance since he has returned to the field from his concussion.

Against the Texans, he threw for just 196 yards and one touchdown. He was also pretty careless with the ball, considering he tied a season-high for the most interceptions in one game with three.

The loss could be a devastating blow to the Dolphins’ playoff hopes as well. Miami owns a record of 6-8 with only three games remaining on its regular-season schedule, meaning the Dolphins can’t finish the campaign with a better record than 9-8, even if they win out.

Miami will try to avoid another loss when it takes on the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 22.