Tua discusses concussions, what he had to do during protocol and more. And Dolphins notes

A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Monday:

When quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made a tour of Radio Row at the Super Bowl on Friday, the big takeaway was his revelation that he would be taking judo lessons on Fridays this offseason to “try to learn how to fall” and reduce the chance of future concussions.

Beyond that factoid initially revealed to Kay Adams, Tagovailoa made other notable remarks in four other interviews, during promotional appearances for Subway:

▪ In an interview with USA Today, Tagovailoa said clearing concussion protocol — he was in it from Dec. 26 to Feb. 1 — felt like it “took forever.

“For concussion protocol, I think the team did me the biggest service throughout that. They never allowed me to go through protocol normally until the season was done. So that’s why it might have seemed like it took forever, but they were just protecting me from myself.

“And me and my family are very thankful to the Dolphins. But it really entailed a lot of exertion, so like running, ocular and vestibular movements, so like balance, proprioception — things like that. Having went to see a doctor in Pittsburgh, got clearance from him and then had to do a written test, memorization.”

Asked about the playoff loss to Buffalo, Tagovailoa said: “I’d like to think every time I’m out there it would be different, but I’m not going to take away any credit from the Bills or take any credit away from how our guys performed. We played our hearts out. It’s not easy to do what Skylar Thompson did. He played in a playoff game before I even played in a playoff game in my career.”

▪ Asked on Dan Le Batard’s show about why he skipped the Pro Bowl, Tagovailoa said: “I’m good. I didn’t think it was necessary the first thing I came back to do football related wasn’t team related with the Dolphins. That was one of the reasons I didn’t attend. [Also], I’m a new father. I’m spending time with my son and trying to help out my wife, get him on a sleep schedule.”

▪ Tagovailoa told Yahoo’s Matt Harmon:

“I hear people telling people that are in my close circle, like, ‘hey, like, you should retire. Hey, you should do this.’ And I feel like I’ve heard it all.

“But I think I’ve had all the information that I need to move forward with the decision that I made with me and my wife and my family, and understanding that you’re playing this sport, understanding and knowing the precautions, that these things can happen.

“It’s football. It’s a physical sport. So I would say that’s probably the most asked question is about the concussions.”

▪ Asked during his CBSHQ interview about whether the NFL can do anything to prevent his concussions, he said no. “This is a violent sport. We all know what we were signing up for. In my situation, it was bad luck.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ The Dolphins conveyed to some players during exit interviews that they want them back, but they apparently haven’t begun the process of negotiations with their 25-plus free agents.

That typically happens beginning in late February, after the team has done a full evaluation of its roster.

The Dolphins are $16.4 million over the salary cap (per overthecap.com) and likely need to restructure deals of Tyreek Hill, Emmanuel Ogbah and Terron Armstead — and potentially others — before the mid March start of free agency.

▪ If you missed this, the Dolphins — per NFL Network — requested an interview with Chargers assistant Tom Donatell for their secondary coach job. Sam Madison was retained as cornerbacks coach, but the Dolphins need a new safeties coach after parting with Steve Gregory.

Donatell, the son of Ed Donatell, was assistant secondary coach for the Chargers the past two years. Before that, he began his NFL coaching career as Seattle’s defensive quality control coach for four years.

The Dolphins are expected to announce the hiring of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in the next few days. Fangio, who assisted the Eagles in Super Bowl preparation the past two weeks, likely will have input on the hiring of a safeties coach and outside linebacker coach.

▪ Dolphins impending free agent running back Raheem Mostert, who also did Radio Row interviews, said this about Tagovailoa in a chat with Sirius XM’s Adam Schein:

“I will say he is definitely our guy moving forward, but he has to take care of himself. First and foremost, I’m all about health….. This year he definitely stepped up and he did his thing and it’s definitely gonna be a bright future for him.”

And on coach Mike McDaniel, Mostert said: “I think the thing that hasn’t been portrayed enough is his authenticity and his brilliance. The guy knows football in and out like the back of his hand. He understands the game and he knows what he has to do.

“When we had these losses, whether it was tight and we lost by three here, two here or even a touchdown, he’ll go back and be like, ‘I made the messed-up call. I made a call that wasn’t suitable for the offense’ and he’ll take that blame, which is awesome because as a head coach, you don’t hear too many coaches come out and be like, ‘I made the bad call. It was my part, like I’ve got to do a better job.’

“And he’ll confront us and tell us that in the locker room at the moment if we lost the game, and he’ll be like, ‘Hey, look, you know, I’ll do a better job.’”

▪ The question with quarterback Skylar Thompson is whether he can improve enough to become a reliable No. 2 quarterback at some point, not a fringe player who will always be competing for a No. 3 job.

“You see me play with confidence” at times, he said. “Other times you see me thinking [too much] and reacting.”

▪ Couple postscripts on the Dolphins’ starting receivers:

During the Dolphins’ playoff game, Hill became the sixth player in NFL history to produce at least 50 receiving yards in nine consecutive playoff games.

Julian Edelman did that 13 consecutive games, and Gary Clark and Jerry Rice did it 10 times in a row.

Hill is tied for fourth-longest streak on that list; Julio Jones and Dolphins receivers coach Wes Welker also did it nine playoff games in a row.

Hill’s 1,710 receiving yards this past season were the most by a player in his first season with a team.

Meanwhile, Jaylen Waddle became the first Dolphins players to lead the league in average yards per reception (18.1) since Chris Chambers in 2001.