The former New Orleans Saints linebacker made the revelation to us out in Los Angeles this week -- some 21 days after Tagovailoa sustained his third diagnosed concussion in a "Thursday Night Football" matchup with the Bills.

Te'o says while he's tried to give the 26-year-old signal-caller his space as he recovers from the brain trauma ... he did recently speak with the Dolphins star's father -- and from everything he's hearing, Tua is "going to try to get back."

"It's no surprise to me that he's going to try to do so," Te'o added. "That's just Tua being Tua. He loves the game. He feels an obligation to his teammates. That's just who he is. He plays hurt."

Te'o previously said he had hoped Tua would walk away from the game. In fact, he got emotional talking about it all while on "Good Morning Football" following the Sept. 12 injury.

But at LAX this week, Manti said he knows the decision will ultimately be Tua's -- and he's confident the QB will make the right call when it's time.

"Tua's a grown man now," he said. "He has a family of his own. I think everybody just wants the best for him -- whatever that is."

As for how Tua's healing, Manti told us everything's going well.