Tua Tagovailoa suffered a serious concussion in Miami Dolphins’ game against the Buffalo Bills after being hit hard by Damar Hamlin. The impact forced Tagovailoa to leave the game, once again raising concerns about his health and the risks associated with his continued play.

While support came from players such as Patrick Mahomes and Antonio Brown, former NFL stars Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson took a more critical stance, questioning Tua’s judgment during the play on their Nightcap podcast.

Sharpe was critical of Tagovailoa

Sharpe, in particular, criticized Tagovailoa for not sliding after gaining the first down, despite his history with concussions. Sharpe argued that with Tagovailoa‘s injury background, avoiding hits should be second nature, especially when a simple slide could have protected him from further harm.

“Knowing his history, I don’t know why. He had already had the first down-why didn’t he go down and slide? That’s my thing…The last thing you wanna do is get hit on it,” Sharpe said.

“I would turn up the shoulder, let you hit me on the shoulder, that’s good. But I’m not gonna let you hit me if I know, you know, I’ve had head trauma, like three or four blows. I’m not taking that; I’m gonna just slide. That’s what the protection is for, for the quarterback.”

Johnson added to the conversation, pointing out that quarterbacks are taught to slide safely to avoid injury, emphasizing the dangers of a head-first slide.

He suggested that Tagovailoa may have lost track of the first down marker, which delayed his reaction and ultimately left him vulnerable to the hit from Hamlin.

Johnson also noted that after missing four games in 2022 due to concussions, Tua should have been more mindful of the risks he was taking by not sliding when he had the chance.

“Really hope Tua is ok, but he’s gotta seriously think about shutting it down,” Sharpe wrote on X. “I hate saying this. His concussions are getting worse and worse and he’s a young man with his entire life ahead of him.”