The latest concussion to a quarterback was the result of a play that Dolphins fans haven\u2019t thought of.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Miami Dolphins\u00a0tumultuous season has seen its share of ups and downs, whether it\u2019s a come-from-behind win in week one, multiple three-game losing streaks, a three-game winning streak, and its latest stop, the\u00a0embarrassing loss\u00a0in the tundra to the\u00a0Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n
There is more than enough blame to share for how the season has unfolded, but the grim reality is that if quarterback\u00a0Tua Tagovailoa<\/strong>\u00a0doesn\u2019t get\u00a0hurt in week two, the Dolphins are likely in the playoffs as of today.<\/p>\n On the Dolphins 5-7 record,\u00a0Tagovailoa stated, \u201cthis comes down to me leaving my team out to dry by putting myself in harms way in week 2.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n As a leader does, the Dolphins quarterback placed the blame on his shoulders. Many would argue that management should shoulder the blame for not having a solid backup option in place with Tagovailoa\u2019s injury history.<\/p>\n This leads me to the\u00a0hit heard around the world\u00a0Sunday in the\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0and\u00a0Jacksonville Jaguars\u00a0game.<\/p>\n In the second quarter, quarterback\u00a0Trevor Lawrence<\/strong>\u00a0scrambled for a six-yard gain before sliding, trying to give himself up when Houston safety\u00a0Azeez Al-Shaair<\/strong>\u00a0hit Lawrence in the shoulders-to-head area, causing the back of his head to slam on the ground and knock him out cold with his hands up in a \u201cfencing posture\u201d similar to what Tagovailoa has gone through.<\/p>\n The opinions have been split on the hit, with fans and media calling the hit dirty or cheap, with some former defensive players, such as\u00a0Richard Sherman<\/strong>, who points to how hard it is to stop from full speed or how\u00a0quarterbacks have manipulated\u00a0the rules protecting quarterbacks to gain extra yards.<\/p>\n When Tagovailoa was asked about the hit\u00a0he responded, \u201cThat was crazy. He was giving himself up and the defensive came and smoked him\u2026.I don\u2019t know the reaction time being a defender and having all the logistics to slow down\u2026.he could have launched out of the way to Trevor giving himself up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Whether or not the hit was dirty is a debate for another time, but the justification behind it makes it seem that defenders are reluctant to adapt to a quarterback-protective league.<\/p>\n How it concerns Tagovailoa is that one of his points of emphasis for staying healthy is sliding every single time when he scrambles. It seems obvious, and we think about it like it\u2019s a guaranteed no-risk to health type of play, but this hit isn\u2019t a one-of-a-kind occurrence, it\u2019s just something that everyone has forgotten about.<\/p>\n When quarterbacks escape that pocket, defenders view them as running backs. When Tagovailoa takes off, fans should forget \u201cslide\u201d and switch to \u201cget out of bounds.\u201d<\/p>\n