"You just gotta be smarter" - Hall of Fame QB warns Tua Tagovailoa’s “heroic” playing approach could put his NFL future at risk

Tua Tagovailoa has established himself as the modern face of the Miami Dolphins, having led the team to multiple playoff appearances - the first quarterback to do so since Jay Fiedler in 2000 and 2001. Each of them, however, has ended in defeat in the Wild Card Round, and Steve Young thinks he knows why.

Speaking on Rich Eisen's eponymous show on Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers legend said the one-time Pro Bowler had yet to find the perfect balance between aggression and intelligence in his play.

"Tua’s gotten in trouble trying to be heroic," Young said (Timestamp from 00:39). "... You just gotta be smarter as you age. But if you’re not a threat at the line of scrimmage, you won’t reach the Super Bowl. He must balance aggression with caution to survive."

In January, during the post-2024 season presser, general manager Chris Grier had slammed his quarterback for taking "unacceptable" risks that resulted in untimely injuries.

Tua Tagovailoa belatedly addressed these comments during the team's minicamp on Tuesday, promising to be more patient on the field.

"I would say the longevity for me to be on the field with my guys is more important than whatever that one play is," he said. "You have more quarters than there would be within just that one play that I'm trying to show the guys that I'm competitive and whatnot, and I know they know that, but it's just nature."

Even his head coach, Mike McDaniel, also implored him to stay healthy, saying:

"You have a franchise quarterback -- you want him to play instead of standing on the sideline."

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Tua Tagovailoa says Dolphins' offseason camp has been helping him to "shift mindset" on finishing plays

One notable instance of Tua Tagovailoa hurting himself trying to make a play occurred only last season against the Buffalo Bills, when he suffered a concussion after running headfirst into Damar Hamlin while rushing for a first down:

For him, moments like that are why practice has been essential in helping to unlearn such impulses and be a little bit more conservative in deciding when he must finish a play.

"I've got to sort of shift my mindset," Tua Tagovailoa said. "This isn't just practice where guys can't hit me. You got to take it into a sense where if this guy's here, get the ball out and if I'm scrambling and this guy's getting close, not to just hold on to it knowing they can hit me if it was real football. Just throw it away or run and then just stop to signify it to slide, if you will."

No exact dates for the Dolphins' preseason/summer camp have been announced as of this writing.