Dolphins' Mike McDaniel expects Tua Tagovailoa to play in 2024 - ESPN

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he expects quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to play again this season, although he didn't have an exact date for his return.

Tagovailoa has spent the past four weeks on injured reserve with a concussion he suffered on Sept. 12 and isn't eligible to return until the Dolphins' game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. McDaniel did not commit to Tagovailoa returning when he's eligible next week, but for the first time since his injury, he did offer some optimism into the quarterback playing again this season.

«I do expect to see him playing football in 2024,» McDaniel said Monday. «But where that is, exactly — we'll let the process continue, since we still have time before he can even entertain anything. We'll make sure that he's diligent this week and assess after that.»

Tagovailoa has a history of concussions since entering the league in 2020. He was diagnosed with two concussions during the 2022 season and suffered a third hit to the head that led to the NFL altering its policy on how concussions are reported.

After he was diagnosed with a concussion on Dec. 26, 2022, the Dolphins effectively shut him down for the remainder of the season; he progressed through the league's protocol once the season ended.

Although that does not appear to be the plan this time around, McDaniel said he didn't spend any time contemplating whether or not Tagovailoa would ever play again.

«I think the biggest thing that I've learned, for me as a head coach, it's absolutely imperative for me to control the controllables,» McDaniel said. «It was so fast from him getting hurt to immediately going into, 'alright, what's the best thing for you, Tua?' I didn't really allow myself any sort