Tua Tagovailoa is practicing jiu jitsu this offseason to try to prevent any more concussions after the Miami Dolphins quarterback sustained two during the 2022 NFL season.

On Thursday, the NFL and the NFL Players Association announced something else that might help the former Alabama All-American – a helmet designed specifically for quarterbacks.

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Both of Tagovailoa’s concussions appeared to occur when the back of his helmet hit the turf, and NFL studies show half of all quarterback concussions happen when the helmet hits the ground.

The VICIS Zero2 Matrix QB helmet is designed to reduce the severity of those impacts. The NFL reported the helmet performed 7 percent better in quarterback-specific testing than the most popular helmet worn by league QBs during the 2022 campaign.

During the 2022 season, the NFL recorded an 18 percent increase in concussions from the 2021 campaign, with the league attributing the majority of that increase to concussions sustained by quarterbacks and special-teams players.

The quarterback helmet is the second position-specific headwear introduced in the NFL, following an offensive lineman/defensive lineman model introduced in 2021. Two of those types of helmets – the VICIS Zero2 Matrix ID Trench and VICIS Zero2-R Trench — led the NFL-NFLPA safety rankings this year.

“Helmets customized to the unique experiences of a position group promotes player safety,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL executive vice president who oversees player health and safety. “This is the next evolution in a rapidly advancing market for improved helmets. We’re proud to share the data necessary to design and build better equipment.”

RELATED: TUA TAGOVAILOA WORKING NOW TO GET TO ‘LATER PARTS OF THE SEASON’

Tagovailoa missed five games and more than half of another during the 2022 season because of concussions – one sustained on Sept. 29 in a 27-15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and the other on Dec. 25 in a 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

For the first concussion, Tagovailoa was at University of Cincinnati Medical Center by halftime after being taken off the field on a stretcher. But on the second, Tagovailoa played the entire game against the Packers – with three interceptions in the fourth quarter – before entering the NFL concussion protocol the next day.

Tagovailoa remained at that status through the final two games of the regular season and the Dolphins’ 34-31 playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, but he’s on course to be with the team when Miami begins its offseason workout program on Monday.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.