Earlier in this turbulent week for the Miami Dolphins, Mike McDaniel joked that enough people had seen him cry.
The Dolphins coach was referring to a news conference in which he choked back tears while reflecting on a controversial traffic stop involving Tyreek Hill hours before Miami's season opener. Five days later, McDaniel sat down for another news conference not 24 hours after a Thursday night game against the Buffalo Bills, and he again couldn't hide his emotions.
His quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, is in concussion protocol, dealing with his third diagnosed concussion in three years after colliding head-first with defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
McDaniel ran onto the field to check on Tagovailoa, who sat up after a few minutes and was helped to his feet by trainers. As McDaniel walked with Tagovailoa to the sideline, he gave his quarterback a kiss on the side of the head.
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“I told him he’s the starting quarterback of his family,” McDaniel said Friday morning, speaking slowly and somberly as he recounted the moment, “and to go in the locker room, take a deep breath and I’ll see you soon.”
The game Thursday was in part about rallying past another emotional event that Miami players and coaches described as both triggering and troubling.
All-Pro receiver Hill has been at the center of a renewed national debate on the use of force by police after body camera footage showed that the traffic stop escalated quickly after a verbal dispute between Hill and Miami-Dade police officers.
Hill put up the window of his car despite an officer's instruction to keep it open. After a back and forth about the window, the video shows an officer pull Hill out of his car by his arm and head and then force him face-first onto the ground near Hard Rock Stadium. Officers handcuffed Hill and one put a knee in the middle of his back.
The altercation, and what was seen on the six officers’ bodycam videos, has again brought to the forefront conversations surrounding the experience of Black people with police.
“What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done,” Hill said hours after the incident. “I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that: just listen, put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen. You’ve got to be careful.”
Police Department Director Stephanie Daniels put officer Danny Torres on administrative duty, and an internal affairs investigation is underway. The department released the identity of Torres, a 27-year veteran of the department, on Tuesday.
Hill has since said he could have handled some parts of the initial interaction better, but he and some teammates also said they would be able to separate the incident from their football duties.
“I think that’s the beauty of the sport,” offensive lineman Terron Armstead said. "You get a chance to escape real-world issues for that time slot. I think there’s no better place in the world that Tyreek could’ve been following that but a locker room and a football game. That’s the beauty of that sport, that you get that time to escape and enter a world that is kind of a fantasy for us.”
Hill caught an 80-yard touchdown pass that helped Miami come from behind to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars that day, but Hill and the Dolphins weren't able to replicate that magic on Thursday.
Hill was limited to three catches and 24 yards, and Miami's offense was stifled in a 31-10 loss to the Bills.
Losing again to their division rivals was hard enough. Buffalo has won 12 of the last 13 meetings between them. That disappointment was overshadowed by fear, uncertainty and concern for Tagovailoa.
“Stuff like this, losses are tough,” McDaniel said. "Ones that you’ve really built yourself up to try to get done ... that’s really tough and then you have your heart completely involved with it — I look at Tua as a family member of mine. When family is going through something, you know how it is. You’re trying to think about a ton of different stuff that people are counting on me to think about. Not easy.”
Players from both teams immediately waved for trainers when Tagovailoa went down after scrambling for a first down.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air. He appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was a movement consistent with something referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a brain injury.
He was immediately diagnosed with a concussion — his third since joining the Dolphins as the fifth overall pick in 2020.
McDaniel said Friday there are more unknowns surrounding the situation than certainty at this point. He said the Dolphins will bring in another quarterback eventually, but he did not want to rush to judgment on any timelines, or on Tagovailoa's future in the NFL.
“For me, I absolutely positively will not do anything to make anything worse or hurt any one of our players, ” McDaniel said, “specifically guys that are in concussion protocol. Ironically, I think there’s a lot of people that have vested interest in the Miami Dolphins. There’s a lot of fans and there’s a lot of people that want to support, but quite literally, questioning timelines, that gives forth anxiety.”
