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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said the 2022 season was almost his last in the NFL. While speaking to the media on Wednesday, the 25-year-old admitted he thought about retiring this offseason.

With two documented concussions last year that caused him to miss multiple games, and a possible third on top of those, Tua's health going into 2023 was a major concern. After speaking with those close to him and weighing the options, No. 1 decided to continue on with his career.

"Yeah I think I considered it for a time," Tagovailoa said on possibly walking away. "Having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those conversations, but really it would be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son. I always dreamed of playing as long as I could to where my son knew exactly what he was watching his dad do. I mean it's my health, it's my body, I feel like this is what's best for me and my family."

Tagovailoa said his love for the game was another reason to keep going. 

"I love the game of football and if I didn't I would've quit a long time ago," Tagovailoa said with a laugh.

The quarterback spoke with independent neurologists to discuss the risks of his past head injuries and the possible future risks if he continues to play. Tua said the specialists told him that CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) was not a major concern, since he does not take hits as consistently as players in other positions.

Tagovailoa has worked this offseason to prevent injuries in the future by learning how to fall and taking jiu-jitsu. He said falling properly and not hitting your head involves learning to disperse your body's energy as you fall.

"You think it's easy -- just fall down and don't hit your head. But it's a lot more to it than that," he said. "I've been falling a lot this offseason. So I think just like anything else, you continue to train it, you continue to work it that it becomes second nature" (via NBC Sports).

With limited hits during the offseason and training camp, Tagovailoa said taking the time to learn to fall correctly is important.

Tua declared that he is officially all-in, putting in the work to improve, and in turn Dolphins have expressed their confidence in him, emphasizing that he will be their guy going forward by exercising his fifth-year option from 2020.

Miami's assistant general manager Marvin Allen said Wednesday what the team has been saying the last few months: "Tua is our quarterback."

Allen said the team believes he is the quarterback who can bring the team to the level it wants to be at, and general manager Chris Grier echoed these thoughts.

"[W]e always hope Tua will be here, successful, long-term for us," Grier said Wednesday, speaking on the fifth-year option. "And at the end of the day, we made this decision and decided to move forward in the offseason to get going."

Grier said he wants Tagovailoa in Miami long term and they are open to a long-term agreement with the former No. 5 overall pick.