Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa says he lost consciousness after being hit

MIAMI — Speaking Wednesday for the first time since sustaining a concussion on Sept. 29, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he remembers most of that night but lost consciousness after a hit that sent him to a hospital.

He was concussed in Miami's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4 when he hit his head on the ground while trying to extend a play, and was briefly hospitalized before being discharged and returning to Florida with the team after the game.

Tagovailoa said he doesn't remember what happened immediately after hitting his head on the ground and losing consciousness but does remember being driven to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center via ambulance, as well as his trip back to Miami with his teammates early the next morning.

«I wouldn't say it was scary for me at the time because there was a point where I was unconscious, so I couldn't really tell what was going on,» he said. «When I did come to and kind of realized what was going on and what was happening, I didn't think of anything long term or short term. I was just wondering what happened.»

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that it's in the quarterback's competitive nature to try to extend plays — but he spoke with Tagovailoa about recognizing when it's time to concede and throw the ball away.

Tagovailoa said that although it's always been his mindset to make something happen when he's on the field, he will have to learn when to accept that a play is dead.

«Throwing the ball away hasn't been something that I've done in the past really well,» he said. «Because I'm trying to make plays, and so just learning from that — if it's not there, it's OK to throw it away. It's the longevity of me just being able to be the quarterback for