Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa turned to martial arts as part of an offseason plan he believes will protect him from future concussions.

Tagovailoa said in an interview on “Up and Adams” on FanDuel TV that becoming a dad brought perspective to his health situation and life in general.

In an eventful 10 days to start the month of February, Tagovailoa was cleared from concussion protocol stemming from a head injury on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers, changed agents and learned the value of his fifth-year option ( $23.2 million) with the Dolphins.

Miami has until May 1, one week after the 2023 NFL Draft, to exercise the option for 2024.

Tagovailoa said he looks at his career differently as a father, but seeing things through a “different lens” won’t mean pulling back after three head injuries in 2022.

“It definitely makes me want to do things to help myself by hopefully not being in those positions next year,” he said. “We’ve got a plan set up. I’ll be doing judo on Fridays just so I can figure out like, understanding my body and learning how to fall. Just trying to help myself.”

Head coach Mike McDaniel said he views Tagovailoa as the franchise quarterback of the Dolphins.

But the Dolphins took the field for the playoffs in January without him and were in a similar position from Sept. 30 to Oct. 22 following a scary on-field scene at Cincinnati that led to the revision of the NFL’s concussion protocol and treatment policy.

Playing on a Thursday night against the Bengals four days after an apparent concussion in a Sunday game, Tagovailoa said he was knocked unconscious, unaware he’d hit the ground falling backward, head-to-turf.

The league conducted another joint review with the NFLPA after the Dolphins-Packers game and revealed the concussion protocol was never triggered because there were no signs of head injury. McDaniel recommended Tagovailoa be examined the day after the game when the quarterback couldn’t recall certain plays and sequences from the day before.

Tagovailoa turns 25 on March 2, and came into the 2020 NFL Draft with questions about durability because of hip and ankle surgeries during his three seasons at Alabama.

In 2022, his first season with McDaniel, Tagovailoa posted career bests in nearly every category and was 8-5 as a starter. He had 3,548 passing yards, averaged 13.7 yards per completion with 25 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a passer rating of 105.5.

–Field Level Media

Injuries and a rising cap number place left tackle Taylor Lewan at a crossroads with the Tennessee Titans.

“In the next couple of weeks, I will be cut by the Tennessee Titans – that will happen,” Lewan said on his podcast. “I truly believe that in my heart of hearts. Then I have to go into a situation that I’ve never been in in my entire life: I have to weigh the pros and cons of playing football, or not playing football.”

Lewan, 31, missed most of the 2022 season with a torn ACL, his second in three seasons. He has played only 20 games since the start of the 2020 regular season.

A first-round pick in 2014 selected No. 11 overall, Lewan has a cap number of $14.7 million for 2023, the final season of a five-year, $80 million deal he said provides more than enough financial security to walk away.

“Football, it is not something I can wake up five years from now and say: You know what dude? I am going to go play ball again,” Lewan said. “Once this chapter is closed, I am not a Brett Favre. I am not these guys that is going to retire and unretire. I am not going to do that. I am going to make a decision, and I’m going to stick with that decision. But I am happy either way, and I think that is the most beautiful thing I can be given in my life.”

The Titans again own the No. 11 pick in the 2023 draft and could be in the market for Lewan’s replacement. The direction the team under new general manager Ran Carthon has not been charted.

Tennessee is also excessively over the 2023 salary cap — by roughly $24 million — and has a multitude of needs on either side of the ball.

–Field Level Media

One month since the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts ended the season and began searching for a new head coach, each franchise has given signals the finish line is near.

Multiple reports Friday indicate the Colts informed three finalists they were out of the running — Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and Mike Kafka, the Giants’ offensive coordinator — with speculation mounting the pick will be Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.

Kafka is a finalist in Arizona, but the Cardinals conducted a second interview with Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, NFL Network and The Athletic reported.

A third finalist for the vacancy with the Cardinals, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, was named defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings.

Arizona has a new general manager, Monti Ossenfort, leading their search for Kliff Kingsbury’s replacement. Ossenfort also interviewed Callahan and new Broncos head coach Sean Payton.

Jeff Saturday replaced Frank Reich nine games into the 2022 season, but the former was 1-7 as interim coach of the Colts. Saturday, 47, interviewed twice for the position and was one of seven known finalists.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris also had two interviews with the Colts.

Morris was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-2011. He’s viewed as a finalist in Indy after details of his lengthy second interview were reported this week by ESPN.

–Field Level Media

The Houston Texans are expected to hire Matt Burke as their defensive coordinator, NFL Network reported Friday.

Burke, who interviewed with the Texans this week, most recently worked as the defensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Burke, 46, would represent the first big hire for DeMeco Ryans, who was named the Texans head coach on Jan. 31. Ryans, 38, spent the past two seasons as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.

Burke previously was defensive coordinator in two of his three seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2016-18). He has worked in a variety of coaching roles with the Tennessee Titans (2004-08), Detroit Lions (2009-13), Cincinnati Bengals (2014-16), Philadelphia Eagles (2019-20) and New York Jets (2021).

The Texans ranked 30th in yards allowed (379.5) and 27th in points allowed (24.7) this past season.

–Field Level Media

If you’re a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles, congratulations on making it this far.

One of these teams will win a Super Bowl title for the second time in the past six seasons.

Most of the rest of the football-loving world could need a little extra oomph to maximize their enjoyment Sunday, and the commercials are growing more lame over the years.

Now the country’s secondary Super Bowl pastime is prop bets, or bets that are not specific to the winning team or the final score.

Field Level Media takes a look at four game-related prop picks and a couple of “novelty” props — something to root for besides your end-of-quarter squares.

–Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton over 10.5 tackles (-110 at BetMGM)
One of the unsung heroes in this game is Chiefs middle linebacker Nick Bolton, who finished second in the NFL with 180 tackles. Counting regular season and playoffs, Bolton has had 10 double-digit tackle games when counting solo tackles and assists, which this prop does.

Can he get 11 in the Super Bowl? Against a team like Philadelphia that likes to run up the middle and relies on the QB sneak in short-yardage spots, he’ll have plenty of opportunity to make this one happen.

–Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker under 1.5 field goals (+100 at BetMGM)
The Super Bowl is no time to settle for 3.

Andy Reid has tons of belief in the Chiefs’ kicker, but a coach like him on a stage like this could be in a “four-down territory” mindset most of the game. There’s no doubting his counterpart, Nick Sirianni, will not hesitate to push the go button on fourth down if the Eagles are within reasonable distance.

Kansas City’s offense is so methodical that it’s only had to settle for a field goal shorter than 40 yards 12 times all season.

–Eagles QB Jalen Hurts to throw for more yards than Patrick Mahomes (+225 at DraftKings)
Like the daring side? This is a spicy pick to consider.

Hurts hasn’t been asked to air it out a ton during the playoffs following a Week 14 shoulder injury. He’s only eclipsed 250 yards five times all season. But the biggest potential mismatch of the game is the Eagles’ star receiving duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith against Chiefs rookie cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie.

Fellow corner L’Jarius Sneed was cleared from concussion protocol and might play, but there are doubts he’s 100 percent healthy with a new knee injury that landed him on the injury report. The Eagles might need to score in bunches to keep up with the Chiefs, requiring chunk plays in the passing game.

–Eagles over 21.5 first downs (-130 at DraftKings)
To beat Mahomes, the best approach is to keep the ball out of his hands.

Sirianni knows that from his time as the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive coordinator in 2019, when the Colts beat Mahomes by calling 45 rushing plays and chewing up 37:15 of the 60:00 game clock. The Eagles have the run-game personnel to replicate the plan. They’ve only failed to get to 20 first downs in a game three times this season.

–Will there be a flea-flicker? Yes (+210 at DraftKings)
Reid has shown a penchant for truly bananas gadget plays even when the stakes are high, like the ring-around-the-rosie huddle break against the Raiders in Week 18 and the hook-and-ladder on first down. Flea-flickers are the oldest form of trickery in the book and would make a great centerpiece for the winning team’s highlight package.

–Yellow/green Gatorade poured on winning coach (+175 at BetMGM)
Red for the Chiefs isn’t a lock. There’s video evidence Kansas City goes orange to celebrate the Lombardi, but we’ve also seen postgame yellow. Eagles players dumped yellow sports drink on Sirianni after winning the NFC Championship game.

Blue is on a two Super Bowl streak, emptied on Rams coach Sean McVay last year and Bruce Arians when the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in February 2021.

Red and orange have been the public’s favorite picks at most books this week.

We’re locking in lemon lime.

–Field Level Media