Tua Tagovailoa’s career has been defined as much by the injury report as by the box score. The Falcons quarterback has had stretches of real production, but the list of setbacks stretches all the way back to Alabama and keeps running through his pro career.
The cleanest season of his NFL life came in 2023, when he stayed healthy for all 17 games, led the league with 4,624 passing yards and finished tied for fifth with 29 touchdowns. Miami went 11-6 and reached the postseason. But before and after that run, Tagovailoa has been hit by a long line of injuries - some small, some serious, and several involving his head.
His college and NFL injury history starts with a broken left index finger in March 2018 during spring practice at Alabama, when he hit a lineman’s helmet while throwing a pass. He had quick surgery and did not miss any practice time.
That fall brought a knee sprain in October against Missouri, but he returned the next week against Tennessee. In November 2018, he took a hit to his left quad against Mississippi State and sat out the rest of that game before coming back the following week against The Citadel.
The end of that same season brought a more significant ankle issue. In the SEC championship game against Georgia in December 2018, Alabama left tackle Jonah Williams accidentally stepped on Tagovailoa’s right ankle.
He missed the rest of the game and later had a tightrope procedure so he could return for the College Football Playoff. Another right ankle injury followed in October 2019, when he suffered a high ankle sprain against Tennessee.
He again had a tightrope procedure, missed one game against Arkansas, and then returned to start in Alabama’s loss to LSU.
Then came the injury that changed everything in college. In November 2019, late in the first half against Mississippi State, Tagovailoa suffered the hip injury that ended his college career.
"He was screaming in pain as medical training staff had to pick him up and carry him off the cart." @MollyAMcGrath said the first report is that Tua Tagovailoa suffered an injury to his right hip vs. Mississippi State. pic.twitter.com/ppMJykMq9N
His early NFL years brought more trouble. While his rookie season was mostly clean, he suffered a thumb injury in practice that was expected to cost him just one game, a Week 12 meeting with the Jets.
In September 2021, he was carted off after a rough hit in a Week 2 game against the Bills and later went on injured reserve with rib fractures. That November, he also dealt with a fracture in the middle finger of his throwing hand and missed the Week 9 game against the Texans, with uncertainty lingering about whether he would play against the Ravens on Thursday night in Week 10.
The 2022 season became the most troubling stretch of all. In Week 3 against the Bills, Tagovailoa suffered what the team first described as a back injury, though it looked more like a head injury.
The NFLPA investigated the matter, and he cleared concussion protocol and returned in the same game under questionable circumstances. A week later, in Thursday night’s game against the Bengals, he was slammed hard to the ground, went rigid, and was placed on a backboard and carted off.
Tua Tagovailoa injured after being slammed down #nfl pic.twitter.com/jlNiOly3zJ
Then in Week 16 against the Packers, he suffered his third concussion of the 2022 season after hitting the back of his head on the turf late in the first half. He was not removed from the game and threw three second-half interceptions before the concussion was confirmed afterward.
This would seem to be the play on which Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa was injured, when his head bangs the ground. pic.twitter.com/zCQXadHm2r
After that, 2023 stood out as the one season in which he stayed available from start to finish, though even that year included a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of a Week 17 game against the Ravens. He injured it while sliding on a fourth-down play, did not return that night, and was back the next week.
The injuries returned in 2024. In Week 2 against the Bills, Tagovailoa suffered a concussion that sent him to injured reserve and cost him four games. In December, he suffered his second injury of the season in Week 16 against the 49ers, missed two games, and Miami missed the playoffs.
He stayed clean in 2025 from an injury standpoint, but his production dropped before he was released in the offseason. Then, in July 2026, he missed time early in his first Falcons training camp because of back tightness, though he returned for Atlanta’s first preseason game. Three days before the season opener, he went down again in practice with an apparent back injury, leaving Cooper Rush to handle the first-team reps and putting his Week 1 status in doubt.
#WATCH: I happened to catch the moment #Falcons QB Tua Tagovailoa went down briefly during the open portion of #Falcons practice
He stood off to the side for the rest of the period we were able to watch. https://t.co/VyzfRrzond
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