Tua Tagovailoa had perhaps the worst game of his Miami Dolphins career in Week 7. Then he woke up with his eye swollen shut in Week 8 and had one of his best. So what should fans expect going into a Thursday night tilt with the Baltimore Ravens?
Performance is anyone’s guess, but equipment is another thing: The visor that Tua broke out against the Atlanta Falcons will return tonight. It was the first time the quarterback wore a visor since high school, and it seems to work wonders. Tua went 20 of 26 for 205 yards for a season-high four touchdowns and, perhaps more remarkably given the start to his season, zero interceptions in a 34-10 win.
“I’m just glad I was able to go out there and play,” Tagovailoa said after the win while wearing sunglasses. “Woke up that way, kind of had some thoughts of what it could be, what it might be, but none of those seemed to be what it was, whether it was a stye or whether it was maybe allergic to something, an allergic reaction.”
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The excellent game was a welcome relief from his previous outing in which an un-visored Tua was benched after completing just over 50% of his passes for 100 yards and three picks on a rainy day in a 31-6 loss at the Cleveland Browns. He’s been battling an injury to the thumb on his throwing hand and had a minor hip issue pop up a few weeks ago.
Maybe the eye issue will prove to be the spark that turns Tua and the Dolphins’ season around. Fans have been clamoring throughout the 2-6 start to tear down everything, as evidenced by the planes carrying banners calling to fire coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier. They’ve also been ready to part ways with the franchise QB who signed the richest contract in team history but who has ruffled feathers with his comments around teammates showing up late to meetings.
Here’s what we know about Tua’s eye, as well as his season stats and how to watch tonight’s Dolphins-Ravens game:
Tua Tagovailoa injury update
Tua Tagovailoa was listed on the Dolphins injury report with a left thumb injury/illness but was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice. He does not carry an injury designation into tonight’s game.
Tua was a late addition to the injury report before the Oct. 26 game against the Falcons after he woke up with swelling in his left eye. The quarterback said after the game that he woke up with his eye swollen shut and that team medical staff treated it with antibiotics.
“It’s good,” Tua said Oct. 28. “I could see a lot better than I could (in Atlanta) in terms of how open my eyelid was or how closed it was. So it’s been good.”
Tua wore a visor for the first time in his NFL career to protect his eye during the game. He said he’d continue wearing it even after the eye fully heals.
Tua Tagovailoa concussions, injury history
Tua’s career has been hampered by a long list of injuries that started when he was at Alabama. He suffered a high-ankle sprain during the 2018 SEC championship game, getting “tightrope” surgery and returning for the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff run less than a month later. The following season, after returning from another ankle injury, Tua dislocated his right hip on what turned out to be the last play of his college career. The injury caused him to fall from the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Dolphins at No. 5.
In the NFL, Tua has had three registered concussions. The first came in 2022 just four days after his head bounced hard off the field in another game. On Thursday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals, the quarterback was slammed hard to the turf and he lay there afterward with his fingers seemingly frozen in the air for several seconds. Ten weeks after he came back, Tua suffered another head injury against the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day. Then in Week 2 of the 2024 season, Tua scrambled up the middle against the Buffalo Bills and dove into safety Damar Hamlin, with his head hitting the defender’s chest and then hitting the ground. Tua’s arms froze in the air in what neurologists refer to as the “fencing response,” a sign of head trauma.
Tua has missed 15 regular-season games across his first five NFL seasons, plus one playoff game. He missed six games in 2024, including the last two games with a hip injury and four while on IR with a concussion suffered in Week 2.
Tua Tagovailoa stats
Tagovailoa has been off to the worst start of his pro career, leading the NFL with 10 interceptions and six fumbles through eight weeks. His 1,518 passing yards are 21st in the league, while Pro Football Focus ranks Tua 36th among QBs who have at least one start with a 60.6 overall grade, surprisingly just below Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
- 2025 stats: 159 of 231 (68.8%) passing for 1,518 yards and 15 touchdowns with 10 interceptions and 16 sacks for a 90.4 QB rating, plus 11 carries for 38 yards and 6 fumbles.
- 2024 stats: 291 of 399 (72.9%) passing for 2,867 yards and 19 touchdowns with 7 interceptions and 21 sacks for a 101.4 QB rating, plus 17 carries for 49 yards and 7 fumbles.
- Career stats: 1,546 of 2,268 (68.2%) passing for 17,024 yards and 115 TDs with 54 INTs and 127 sacks for a 97.1 QB rating, plus 164 carries for 468 yards, 6 TDs and 42 fumbles.
How to watch Dolphins vs Ravens
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 30
- Start time: 8:15 p.m. ET
- TV channel: CBS 4 Miami (WFOX)
- Livestream: Prime | Fubo (free trial)
