During Thursday’s game between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked by Cincinnati defensive tackle Josh Tupou, whose momentum caused Tua to be whipped around until his head and back slammed into the ground. Tagovailoa laid on the ground for some time and was eventually stretchered off the field with a presumed concussion.
Obviously, the conversation has focused on Tua and his health, not to mention whether or not the Dolphins and the NFL are making the right decisions to ensure that he is being treated properly for potential concussions.
However, there’s another person in the equation and that’s Tupou. The sack was actually the first of his NFL career, though it won’t be remembered fondly by many. Tupou also feels bad about what happened and says he never intended to injure the quarterback.
“I didn’t realize he was knocked out or had a bad concussion until after I turned back around after I celebrated,” Tupou said via TheAthletic.com. “I know it wasn’t a good look celebrating while he was down like that the way he was. I never want to hurt nobody in the NFL, especially another Polynesian brother.”
The defensive tackle added that he didn’t think Tua would be injured because he didn’t think he’d thrown him down with enough force.
“I was just trying to get him down off a little roll tackle,” Tupou said, “so that’s why I didn’t realize he was hurt. I didn’t think I threw him back hard enough.”
Tupou had some good perspective for the moment, which was good for him in the sense that he needed to prove himself, but bad for Tagovailoa for obvious reasons.
“Even though it was a good moment for me, it was a hard moment for him and his family to see him the way he was,” Tupou said. “His health overrides my sack.”
