Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is focused on delivering a second straight postseason victory for the Terrapins in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday against North Carolina State.

But while preparing for the game, the former Thompson High School standout also was thinking about his brother, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

MORE NFL:

· THURSDAY NIGHT: COWBOYS EASE PAST TITANS

· FORMER ALABAMA SAFETY RETIRING

· WEEK 17: SCHEDULE, TV, ODDS

Tua Tagovailoa has been sidelined for the second time this season by a concussion. But his brother doesn’t think the setback will keep the former Alabama All-American from playing football in the future.

“I want my brother to be safe,” Taulia Tagovailoa told The Associated Press on Thursday. “But at the same time, I know that he has a love and a passion for football. I feel like he is going to make the right decision. The biggest thing is staying safe, so that is something he has to pray on. I know when it comes down to it, he will make the right decision. …

“I just feel like he’s not going to stop playing football. I feel like every opportunity he has, he is going to try to play. I don’t know, it’s just go until the wheels fall off.”

Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion during Sunday’s 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, although the injury wasn’t discovered until Monday, when he entered the NFL concussion protocol again.

RELATED: COACH’S SCRUTINY LED TUA TAGOVAILOA TO CONCUSSION PROTOCOL

This is the third known time this season that Tagovailoa has dealt with concussion issues.

On Sept. 25, Tagovailoa left the game against the Buffalo Bills with two minutes remaining in the first half after banging the back of his head on the ground on a hit that merited a roughing-the-passer penalty. When Tagovailoa wobbled getting up, he went to the locker room.

But Tagovailoa was cleared by a team physician and the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant at halftime, returned for the second half and rallied Miami to a 21-19 victory. Tagovailoa said after the game he had been unsteady because he hurt his back on a quarterback sneak earlier in the first half.

Four days later in the NFL’s Thursday night game for Week 4, Tagovailoa again left the field after a sack. But this time, he was taken off on a stretcher, and the evaluation did not send him back on the field, but to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

After leaving in the first half of the Dolphins’ 27-15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa missed two games.

As with Tagovailoa’s Sept. 25 injury, the NFL Players Association has requested an investigation into the handling of Tagovailoa’s current concussion.

The NFLPA exercised its prerogative to fire the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who cleared Tagovailoa to return to play against the Bills, and that investigation resulted in a change to the concussion protocol.

The term ataxia was added to the mandatory no-go symptoms, with ataxia defined as “abnormality of balance/stability, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech caused by a neurological issue.” A player diagnosed with ataxia by any club or neutral physician in the application of the concussion protocol will not be able to return to the game.

With Tua Tagovailoa sidelined, the Dolphins will have Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback against the New England Patriots on Sunday. The other game remaining on Miami’s regular-season schedule is against the New York Jets on Jan. 8.

“I want him to always be safe, but at the same time play the game that he loves and do what he loves to do and see him happy,” Taulia Tagovailoa said. “In life, I feel like we all have to make those tough decisions regardless of what he feels like doing at the moment. There are lot more years and a lot of more time, too, because he’s still young.”

Tua Tagovailoa is in his third season with Miami. Taulia Tagovailoa is in his third season with Maryland. But the brothers were teammates at Alabama in 2019.

After that season, Tua Tagovailoa joined the Dolphins as the fifth selection in the 2020 NFL Draft and Taulia Tagovailoa transferred to Maryland.

Taulia Tagovailoa won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 7A Back of the Year awards for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Maryland closed last season with a 54-10 victory over Virginia Tech in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Tagovailoa completed 20-of-24 passing for 265 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

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