Nick Saban reacts to Tua Tagovailoa making tackle with head vs. Rams: Wish 'he'd protect himself a little bit'

Miami Dolphins (3-6) quarterback Tua Tagovailoa attempted to make a head-first tackle attempt after throwing an interception in the second quarter of this past Monday’s 23-15 Week 10 road victory over the Los Angeles Rams (4-5).

For a player who has suffered multiple concussions in his five-year NFL career, including one in Week 2 this season which caused him to miss four games, using your head to make a tackle didn’t seem like a smart decision. But if there’s anything Nick Saban learned coaching him at Alabama, it’s that Tagovailoa is a fearless competitor who will do “whatever it takes to win,” he said on Friday’s “Pat McAfee Show.” While one can commend the competitiveness inside Tagovailoa, Saban admitted he would like to see him “protect himself a little bit.”

Nick Saban offers advice to Tua Tagovailoa

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa takes a knee to the head and is now being evaluated for a concussion. pic.twitter.com/F3xLDVtBqB

— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) November 12, 2024

“Let me say this about Tua when I had several conversations with him,” Saban said. “Every time that he got hurt at Alabama, he had tightrope [surgery] on his ankle and then everyone knows about him hurting his hip. But every time he got hurt, there was no play to be made. The play broke down, he’s scrambling. I mean, when he breaks his hip, [Henry] Ruggs falls down. There’s nobody even on that side of the field to throw to. Just throw it away. You don’t have to put yourself in harm’s way.

“But he is such a competitor, and I mean in a good way. He’s a team guy and in a good way. He’s going to do whatever it takes to win. I don’t think that he’s ever going to think about, ‘I’m protecting myself.’ He never has. I don’t think he ever will, and you have to appreciate that because that’s what great competitors do. And that’s not a bad thing. But we don’t want to see the guy get hurt, so sometimes you would wish that maybe he’d protect himself a little bit.”

Tua Tagovailoa speaks out on head-first tackle attempt vs. Rams

As Tagovailoa went low to make the tackle, Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom‘s knee violently connected with the side of his helmet. Tagovailoa didn’t show any side effects from the contact and played the remainder of the game.

Tagovailoa said Wednesday “it didn’t feel as bad as what it probably looked like.” He added he wouldn’t do anything differently if he was in that position again.

“I would say it didn’t feel as bad as what it probably looked like, may have looked like,” Tua Tagovailoa said, via the Dolphins’ website. “When we watched it, our coach had said that ‘he sort of kneed you in the head.’ Essentially, you’re out there playing football; I didn’t necessarily feel that, and I wasn’t just going to jump out of the way for him to just run down the sideline and potentially score.

“So, you’ve got to make decisions, and I should have never threw the pick in the first place so that’s it.”