The breath was held for each Miami Dolphins fan on Monday Night Football when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception to Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom and then got involved in the ensuing comeback. Tagovailoa cornered Rozeboom running down the sideline and then made a diving tackle on him. I almost took a knee to the side of my head..

With Tua’s extensive history of horrific head injuries, it was a play where the quarterback put himself directly in danger, perhaps unnecessarily. Considering he also suffered another brutal head injury this season and this was only his second game back from that concussion, it was the last type of game any Dolphins fan wanted to see from him.

Seeing that at SoFi Stadium was pretty bad. However, Tagovailoa’s response and reaction to the play in question when asked about it after the game is the real cause for concern when considering his long-term health with the Dolphins.

When asked about the hit, Tua tried to play it off with humor (we have to hope) by saying he asked Rozeboom after the play why he didn’t go out of bounds on the return. And while the Dolphins quarterback acknowledged it was poor tackling, the entire context of his response seems like he’s missing the point.

The positive thing is that he feels good after the play and did not suffer any injuries, without a doubt. That said, there are several alarming issues with how he reacted after the game.

This is professional football. Whether joking or not, essentially saying that an opposing player is supposed to please you by coming out of bounds rather than trying to gain extra yards, particularly in a game the Rams were losing at the time, is just plain silly. . Sure, it’s a good thing Tua wasn’t “planning” to use his head to make the entrance, but he still did it.

Many fans have said that Tagovailoa simply needs to be protected from himself right now. It’s quotes like this that provoke such a reaction. If he had just come out and said it was a bad tackle that he would try to clean up, that would be one thing. But framing any semblance of responsibility around wondering why the defender didn’t leave the field? That cheapens responsibility in the situation, and furthermore, it also frames it as if Tagovailoa is saying that he could find himself in danger again if another player doesn’t “just step out of bounds.”

Maybe I’m exaggerating about this. But when Tagovailoa suffered a concussion that left him, sadly not for the first time, frozen as he lay on the field, questions arose as to whether he should ever play football again. So those weren’t overreactions: They were viable medical concerns with his history of head injuries. So to see him react to the suffering of another with such indifference and without any real remorse for being in such danger is, to say the least, worrying.

We all want Tua to stay healthy. However, once again he has to help himself. And on Monday night, he showed no real inclination to do that in the first place or, second, to make us think he will do that in the future.