After Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained two concussions during the 2022 NFL season, the offseason focus for the former Alabama All-American was on recovering his health and preparing to stay healthy in the 2023 campaign.

The headlines on those efforts have been generated by Tagovailoa’s jiu jitsu work to learn to fall more safely and training program to add strength.

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But Tagovailoa said this week he’s also wearing a new helmet as part of the protection program.

In April, the NFL and the NFL Players Association announced their approval of a helmet designed specifically for quarterbacks.

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.

“Definitely took into consideration the helmets,” Tagovailoa said. “It was like a percentage better than the helmet that I had. Everything matters, and so I’m going to play that percentage. So if you look at it last year, it wasn’t anyone really hitting my head. It was really just the ground. …

“I think I’ll start out with that helmet. I feel very comfortable with that helmet. The helmet feels good, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Both of his 2022 concussions are thought to have occurred when Tagovailoa’s helmet hit the turf.

Tagovailoa missed two games after leaving in the first half of a 27-15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 29 with a concussion. In that game, Tagovailoa left the field on a stretcher and went to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Tagovailoa also missed the Dolphins’ final two regular-season games and a 34-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC playoffs after entering the NFL’s concussion protocol on Dec. 26, the day after a 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers that featured the quarterback throwing three interceptions in the fourth quarter.

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.

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Miami coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa already was reaping residual benefits from his offseason work during training camp.

“He really took his training on his body serious this offseason for a multitude of reasons,” McDaniel said, “and I’ve seen various things, where he has a little more short-area explosiveness, where you’re able to manipulate yourself in the pocket at a more explosive rate. I don’t know this to be facts, but it appears by my layman’s eye that he has more pitches in his arsenal, like he can layer stuff and drive it just with even more command than he’s already pretty adept at, considering his accuracy, so I think it just overall helps him feel prepared and execute a lot of things, and the residuals are apparent and various.”

The Dolphins are working toward their season-opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 10. Before that, Miami has preseason contests against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday, Houston Texans on Aug. 19 and Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 26.

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