Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou recorded the first sack of his NFL career on Thursday night in a 27-15 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
After playing in one game for the Bengals as an undrafted rookie in 2017, Tupou has persevered to appear in 44 regular-season and two playoff games with Cincinnati.
When D.J. Reader went down with a knee injury in the Bengals’ 27-12 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday, the 345-pound Tupou became Cincinnati’s top option at nose tackle.
On Thursday night, Tupou sacked Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the second quarter for a 10-yard loss. But while the nose tackle was celebrating his milestone, the former Alabama All-American was down as medical personnel rushed to attend to him.
“I was excited to get my first sack,” Tupou told the Bengals official website on Friday, “but at the same time it’s tainted because I didn’t want to hurt Tua. I never intended to hurt him.
“I was just trying to make a rolling tackle, and his head hit the ground. I don’t know him. I just know he’s another Polynesian brother. I never want to hurt anybody in the NFL.”
Tagovailoa stayed on the turf for about seven minutes until he was placed on a backboard, strapped to a stretcher and taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
The initial diagnosis says Tagovailoa emerged from the frightening-looking incident with a concussion, and the quarterback was allowed to fly back to Miami with his teammates on Thursday night.
· DOLPHINS QB SAYS HE’S ‘FEELING MUCH BETTER’
· DOLPHINS COACH: ‘I CAN HEAR NORMAL TUA IN HIS VOICE’
· TUA TAGOVAILOA FACES 5-STEP RECOVERY PROCESS TO RETURN TO PLAY
· MIAMI COACH DEFENDS HANDLING OF QUARTERBACK’S SUNDAY INJURY
· NFL THURSDAY NIGHT: DOLPHINS LOSE QUARTERBACK, GAME
· NFL PLAYERS, SPORTS WORLD WISH MIAMI QB BEST AFTER INJURY
· DOLPHINS GET ‘BEST NEWS’ ON TUA TAGOVAILOA, COACH SAYS
· NFLPA TWEETS CONCERN FOR TUA TAGOVAILOA: ‘INVESTIGATION INTO POTENTIAL PROTOCOL VIOLATION ONGOING’
· AFTER INJURY, NEUROSCIENTIST ATTACKS DOLPHINS: ‘YOU GUYS SHOULD GO TO JAIL’
· MIAMI QB LEAVES THURSDAY NIGHT GAME STRAPPED TO STRETCHER
· CTE PIONEER SAYS TUA TAGOVAILOA SHOULDN’T BE PLAYING
Cincinnati’s victory was the Dolphins’ first loss of the 2022 season and got the Bengals to 2-2 after the team won the AFC championship in 2021.
“All that’s fine,” Tupou said, “but his health is more important than anything on the field.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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