Tua Talks: 'Hell yeah I'm frustrated!'

Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa discussed the disappointment of having to miss the end of the regular season

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) looks on before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 22. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa spoke to the media at his locker Friday, a drastic change from his normal routine of Wednesday media session in the team's press conference room.

But these are different days, challenging days, for Tagovailoa as he continues to deal with a mysterious hip injury that almost certainly will sideline him for a second consecutive game when the Dolphins face the New York Jets in a must-win game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

Whata stood out from Tagovailoa's six-minute media session Friday was that he's frustrated, he wants to play but the doctors won't let him, and he says there's no doubt he'll be in the lineup if the Dolphins are able to make the playoffs, which would happen with a Miami victory against the Jets combined with a Denver Broncos loss against the Kansas City Chiefs with backup Carson Wentz at quarterback.

TUA'S THOUGHTS ON HIS INJURY

Here were the highlights of the Tua media session:

On what’s been going the past two weeks:

Tua: "Yeah, just dealing with that and just getting a good gauge of what the doctors are telling me. And outside of that, we've been able to look at MRIs and keep track of this."

On not being able to play:

Tua: "Yeah, it's tough. It's tough for any competitor to have to sit out when season's on the line and you know you can do more. But that just tells you how much trust and respect that we have for Snoop. The defense has been balling as well so you know we're looking forward to what our guys can do this Sunday and you know we'll see how the cards fall and how they play out."

On what he’s experiencing right now in terms of pain, restricted movement, anything like that:

Tua: "When it comes to pain, I think I'm good with all of that, but it's just the restriction of what the doctors are saying. You know, I can't do. So that's what it is."

On being available for a playoff game:

Tua: "Yeah, yeah. If the cards play out the way they should, and the way we know and think they can, I'm going to be available next week. There's no ifs, ands, or buts. I'll be playing for sure."

What is the injury that you would be at risk of if you were to get, God forbid, a bad collision in the game? What have doctors told you?

Tua: "I don't know if anything could be worse than what it is right now, but I don't know. This is just what the doctors are telling me is right for myself and things of that nature, but I want to be out there, that's for sure. I want to be out there, but it's just a risk for myself to be out there if something were to happen again, that's what we're going to do."

Has there been much improvement this week? Are you feeling somewhat better?

Tua: "Yeah, feeling a lot better. That's for sure."

Was there something where you thought you would be able to go out and play last week like you thought you were at a position where you could play?

Tua: "Yeah, for sure. For sure. I thought I could have played last week. Just the doctors said no, that's all it was."

On what he’s telling his teammates:

Tua: "Yeah, just making sure everyone's locked in, making sure no one's throwing in the towel or whatever. Like, we still have an opportunity, and this is also one of those things where, you know, you just show who you are as a teammate. And if you want to be a part of the organization next year, like, you know, when things are hard, you know, you really show who you are. And then when things are not, you know, anybody can act however they want to act. But that just tells us a lot."

Are you frustrated?

Tua: "Hell yeah, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated. Yeah, I'm frustrated."

So, considering what happened at Alabama, this current injury happened, was there any concern in the back of your mind that was related to what had happened a few years ago?

Tua: "No, not necessarily. The one in Alabama was a lot, was definitely a lot different. But I would say this was probably the more challenging one that I had to go through out of all the injuries with my ankle, like playing a week out of surgery, like it wasn't as bad as what this one feels like."

On whether there’s a timetable with this type of injury:

Tua: "See, it just gets so hard because we're just giving broad, you know, we're giving you guys broad things about what the injury is."

If it ends up being that this ends up being the last week, what are some of the things that you thought through about this season?

Tua: "I think the biggest thing, and it has been my thing since last year, obviously the concussions have been a thing and then just off of that, other injuries that have stacked up with the concussions to where I'm missing games. It's frustrating, that's the frustrating part. And I think that's something to take into consideration for myself, for the team and just moving forward to stay available for more than one season that's for sure more than one season and yeah that's just the frustrating part about it."

So what can you do?

Tua: "I think that's something to think about this offseason that's something to talk the coaches and essentially it just falls on my plate, protecting myself better and the coaches and essentially it just falls on my plate, protecting myself better and things that I already know."