Perhaps the biggest concern for Miami Dolphins star Tua Tagovailoa heading into the 2023-24 season is his long-term health after a number of scary concussions last season. He has undergone some interesting off-season film study with a jiu-jitsu coach to help him learn how to fall more safely next year.
Jiu-jitsu to those who don’t know is a martial art that is typically known as a form of self-defense used while in hand-to-hand combat on the ground.
It isn’t exactly known as a sport that translates all the much to the game of football. However, Tagovailoa detailed that reviewing his past head injuries with this jiu-jitsu coach has helped him tremendously this offseason.
“It wasn’t tough to watch,” Tagovailoa said, via ESPN. “I want to get better at everything that I can do to help the team win games, and I know the biggest one is my health, staying out on the field. And so looking at the film, I was able to watch that with my jiu-jitsu coach, and we were able to kind of relive the scenario in how I got tackled, how I fell. And it wasn’t just one particular game. It was multiple ways that I got taken down and how I could have prevented that.”
It’s certainly an out-of-the-box method to learn how to properly take hits, and many offered their opinion about it on social media.
I often like to pay people to do things they aren't qualified to do as well https://t.co/Oaax0xFqjw
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) June 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/DaIIasTurner/status/1671947938354929664
……so improving the o-line too much to ask? Making this problem Tua’s fault is absurd. https://t.co/mhox1qHOyT
— niggas swear I’m famous (@Tip_MojoSoDope) June 22, 2023
I’m sure QBs really have time to contemplate how to land when Joey Bosa is getting ready to suplex them into the ground
— Mike Bloodworth (@mikebloodworth) June 22, 2023
His WHAT coach?! https://t.co/tXhWSjec2I
— 🏁💰onny P🏁 (@SP_indaclouds) June 22, 2023
It’s unclear if it will be something that actually benefits him next season, but it certainly can’t hurt to try an unorthodox method like this.
[ESPN]
