Tough Tua Tagovailoa Didn’t Notice Chunk Missing From Arm After Gnarly Injury

The Miami Dolphins quarterback was unaware of his awful gash until he made it to the sideline in Friday’s AFC East showdown against the New York Jets.

Editor’s note: This article contains a graphic image.

Tua Tagovailoa was so locked in during Friday afternoon’s Dolphins-Jets matchup that he did not initially realize he’d suffered a gnarly injury to his right arm.

During the first quarter of Friday’s game, Tagovailoa walked off the field to the sideline. During that time, cameras revealed a close-up showing a huge piece of flesh missing from the signal-caller’s arm.

After the Dolphins’ 34–13 victory against the Jets, Tagovailoa told reporters he did not become aware of the injury until one of his teammates informed him.

“I didn’t notice it happen until I came to the sideline,” Tagovailoa said. “That’s probably due to adrenaline. But, getting to the sideline and one of the guys came up to me and said, ‘Dude, you’ve got a big gash on your arm.’ So we got [Dolphins trainer] Kyle [Johnston] to try to get it cleaned up and then patch it up so we could go back in. … But, it’s what comes with the game. Everyone comes out of the game with nicks and bruises.”

That’s gotta hurt for Tua Tagovailoa 😱 pic.twitter.com/8pd0qSf19G

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 24, 2023

Thankfully, Tagovailoa’s nasty gash did not prevent him from playing effectively in Miami’s win. He finished with 243 yards on 21-of-30 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions in the AFC East showdown. Miami (8–3) remains atop the division with a two-game lead over the Bills.

The Dolphins return to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in a road game against the Commanders (4–8).