Tua Tagovailoa suffered gruesome arm injury against New York Jets that left NFL fans feeling sick
Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins may have delivered a humbling defeat to the New York Jets - but the QB did take some punishment.
He led his side (8-3) to a 34-13 victory but their opponents left a seriously big mark on him too.
Tagovailoa, an MVP contender, has been slinging dimes to star receiver Tyreek Hill all campaign.
Against the Jets, though, it was not his greatest game as he threw for 243 yards and one touchdown - to Hill - but also laying up two interceptions and ending with a passer rating of 77.5, comfortably his lowest of the season.
One of those INTs was pick-6 for Jets cornerback Brandin Echols but it barely dented the one-sided scorline.
You would think the QB from Hawaii would have realised he'd lost a significant amount of flesh in the first quarter when an enormous cut appeared on his arm.
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Not Tua.
“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 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.”
The Dolphins' now have a two-game lead over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East as they top the table.
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Fans, though, couldn't believe it when they saw the gruesome injury to his arm.
Many replied on social media this sick emojis as they struggle to fathom how the huge cut wasn't bleeding more heavily.
"Bro lost a piece of his arm wtf," one posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Damn! Took a chunk out," another added.
A third fan said: "Omg. Warrior for battling through that."
Meanwhile another said: "Dude looking like he got bit by a zombie."
Thankfully it was patched up quickly and all he'll have to worry about is getting his tattoo touched up.