Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed five games during the 2022 NFL season because of two concussions suffered 12 weeks apart.

As Tagovailoa prepares to return for the 2023 season after sitting out the final three contests of 2022, his former college coach, Nick Saban, hopes the quarterback will listen to the experts as plans his football future.

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During an appearance on the “Know Mercy with Stephen A. Smith” podcast on Wednesday, the Alabama coach was asked to share the advice that he would give Tagovailoa.

“I love Tua,” Saban said. “He’s a great person. I love to tell the story, if you ask Tua, ‘How you doing today?’ the only player I’ve ever coached that would say, ‘Great, coach. Thanks for asking.’ …

“He struggled here a little bit with some injuries – a couple of ankle injuries, obviously the hip injury that he worked hard to overcome. So I hate it that he’s having these issues and problems. I would trust the medical staff to make the right choices and decisions for his safety, his future. I’d love to see him continue to be able to play and have success, but I don’t want him to put himself at risk either. …

“I think any time that guys start having multiple concussions, it’s a cause for concern. But again, I think that’s got to be sort of ‘How concerning is it?’ is a medical question that needs to be answered by some people who are experts in that field.”

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Tagovailoa holds the Alabama record for touchdown passes with 87, achieved while playing for the Crimson Tide from 2017 through 2019.

As a freshman, the left-hander famously entered the CFP national championship game with Alabama trailing Georgia 13-0 and helped the Crimson Tide win the crown 26-23 in overtime.

In 2018, Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts as Alabama’s starting quarterback, broke the school single-season records for passing yards and touchdown passes, finished as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting and led the Tide to a 14-0 record before Clemson scored a 44-16 victory in the CFP national championship game.

In his ninth game of the 2019 season, Tagovailoa sustained a dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture against Mississippi State on Nov. 16.

The season-ending injury did not dissuade the Dolphins from using the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to obtain Tagovailoa.

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Despite his injury troubles in 2022, Tagovailoa posted the NFL’s best passing-efficiency rating at 105.5 as he completed 259-of-400 passes for 3,548 yards with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Tagovailoa topped the NFL’s passers this season in touchdown rate as 6.3 percent of his passes went for scores, average gain per attempt at 8.9 yards and average gain per completion at 13.7 yards.

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