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Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s injury sparks concern over the NFL’s

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa's injury sparks concern over the NFL's concussion policies

September 30, 2022

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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carried out on a stretcher Thursday night in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“It was a scary moment,” Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel said. “He was evaluated for a concussion and he’s in the concussion protocol. He was at the hospital. I believe he’s about to get discharged.”

Earlier this week the league union said it would be investigating the Dolphins for its concussion evaluation process after Tagovailoa returned to the game following a hard hit in the first half in the team’s Sep. 25 game against the Buffalo Bills.

The Dolphins initially deemed that hit a head injury, but McDaniel walked back the call and said Tagovailoa injured his back, and again confirmed that Thursday night.

So how are teams supposed to evaluate head injuries?

How the NFL defines a concussion
The National Football League defines a sport-related concussion as “a traumatic brain injury induced by biomechanical forces.”

Concussions can be caused by direct hits to the head, face, neck or anywhere else on the body that transmits force to the head, the league says.

Observable signs of a concussion include any loss of consciousness, seizures, delayed movement, difficulty with motor or balance coordination, a vacant look, clutching the head, confusion, amnesia or visible face injuries.

Preseason concussion protocols
All players and team employees must receive and review educational materials about concussion at the start of the season and then craft an emergency medical action plan.

Every other year, players must receive baseline neurological evaluation and testing before the season starts. Tests may include a computerized exam or a pencil and paper test, or a combination of both and are administered every three years. More tests may be administered if a player may have sustained a concussion.

Game day protocols
On game day, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants (UNCs) and athletic trainers are stationed on the sidelines and in a stadium booth to survey the game for any signs of concussion.

If the UNCs or athletic trainers, also called booth spotters, see any sign of a concussion, they must contact the team physician to recommend a sideline examination. A UNC for the opposing team may also make the recommendation.

The player is first sent to the sideline to be checked out, and if any signs of concussion are identified, the player is sent to the locker room for further evaluation and must not return to the game.

If a player is sent back into the game before the medical staff have finished their evaluations, the booth spotter can call a medical time-out until the evaluation is completed.

Once a player has been diagnosed with a concussion, he is not allowed to meet or talk with press or drive on the day of the injury.

Viewers are outraged at the Dolphins’ response
Many who watched the game were extremely critical of how the Dolphins have treated Tagovailoa over the past week, saying he should not have been cleared to play Thursday in the first place.

“The bottom line regarding Tua is LIFE is bigger than football,” former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III said. “Teams should always put the person before the player. Health before competitive advantage. Putting Tua out there isn’t just a player safety issue. It’s a quality of life issue.”

NFL Hall of Famer and Fox Sports commentator Shannon Sharpe said in one tweet he believes the Dolphins are lying about Tagovailoa sustaining a back injury, not a head injury, last week.

“That’s a serious injury,” he said in another. “Tua shouldn’t have been out there with Sunday Thursday turnaround. Sometimes players need protecting from themselves. Dolphins failed Tua.”

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa discharged from hospital Thursday after suffering concussion vs. Bengals

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was taken by ambulance to a Cincinnati-area hospital after sustaining head and neck injuries during his team’s 27-15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night.

He was later discharged from the hospital on Thursday and flew home with the team, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday morning.

Following the game, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa suffered a concussion and nothing “more serious.”

Tagovailoa, who was ruled out of the game, was conscious throughout and had full movement in his extremities. He is in concussion protocol, per McDaniel.

“That was an emotional moment, that is not part of the deal that anyone signs up for, even though you know it’s a possibility in football to have something that you have to get taken off on a stretcher,” McDaniel said. “All of his teammates and myself, we were all very concerned, so the best news that we could get is that everything’s checked out, that he didn’t have anything more serious than a concussion, and will be flying back with us here on the plane.”

The quarterback’s injury occurred in the second quarter when he was sacked by Cincinnati defensive tackle Josh Tupou with around six minutes left in the first half, and was slung down to the turf, appearing to hit the back of his head. In a frightening sight, Tagovailoa was on the ground with his arms outstretched, contorting his fingers, somewhat like a boxer or fighter after a knockout in what is referred to as a fencing response.

Tagovailoa stayed on the ground for a few minutes while trainers attended to him before a stretcher was brought out to take him off the field. He was then taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

The injury to Tagovailoa comes just four days removed from him temporarily exiting the Dolphins’ win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Tagovailoa left Sunday’s game with what was initially announced by the team as a head injury. The QB returned to start the second half of the game and finished out the win. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said in the aftermath of the game that Tagovailoa had injured his back in the first half and the injury was exacerbated by the hit he sustained from Bills linebacker Matt Milano.

The NFL Players Association subsequently planned to investigate if proper concussion protocol was followed. The NFL on Wednesday confirmed a review was ongoing, but every indication was that proper protocol had been followed. The NFLPA released a statement Thursday night stating its investigation is ongoing and that its “concern tonight is for Tua and we hope for a full and speedy recovery.”

McDaniel emphasized Thursday that an independent specialist evaluated Tagovailoa Sunday and he did nothing to “fudge” with protocol being followed.

“That’s why the NFL has these protocols, and there’s not like every single NFL game that is played,” he said. “There’s an independent specialist that specializes in specialty brain matter, so for me, as long as I’m coaching here, I’m not going to fudge that whole situation. If there’s any sort of inclination that somebody has a concussion, they go into concussion protocol; it’s very strict. People don’t vary or stray; we don’t mess with that, we never have as long as I’ve been head coach, so it’d never be an issue that you guys have to worry about.”

Leading into Thursday’s game, Tagovailoa was questionable to play due to back and ankle soreness, but made the start. McDaniel does not believe Tagovailoa’s injuries sustained Sunday had a direct connection to Thursday’s circumstance. Furthermore, he underscored that he would never put the result of a game as a priority over the well-being of a player.

“I don’t think that an injury from last week made him fall the same way this week, but yeah, I do not have any, like absolutely zero patience for, or will ever put a player in position for them to be in harm’s way,” McDaniel said. “That is not what I’m about at all, and no outcome of a game would ever influence me being responsible as the head coach of a football team.”

Tagavailoa was 8 of 14 for 110 yards, no touchdowns and an interception prior to his exit Thursday. Teddy Bridgewater took over at quarterback for the Dolphins.

The 24-year-old Tagovailoa, the 2020 NFL Draft’s fifth-overall pick, is in his third season with Miami.

Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa Hospitalized After Second Head Hit in Two Games

Miami’s quarterback left Thursday’s game on a stretcher after his head was slammed to the turf for the second time in five days. The players’ union has asked for an investigation of his team’s handling of the concussion protocol.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carted off the field on a stretcher during a game on Thursday night after he appeared to experience his second head injury in less than a week when he was thrown to the ground, hitting his head on the turf.

The injury, in a nationally televised prime-time game, came only days after the N.F.L. players union began an investigation into the Dolphins’ handling of another head hit sustained by Tagovailoa in his previous game. The N.F.L. said this week that it welcomed that investigation, but Tagovailoa’s new injury is certain to renew questions about the league’s concussion protocols, and highlight concerns that even the kind of subconcussive hits to the head that are common in football can cause lasting damage to players.

Midway through the second quarter of a game between Miami and the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, Tagovailoa dropped back to pass around midfield. Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou grabbed Tagovailoa, spun him around and threw him to the ground. Tagovailoa’s elbow hit the ground first, and then the back of his helmet.

Tagovailoa immediately raised his hands with his fingers splayed, a gesture called a “fencing response” that can be a sign of brain injury. Dolphins trainers ran onto the field and, after several minutes, put Tagovailoa on a stretcher and wheeled him off the field while his concerned teammates stood and kneeled nearby.

A few minutes after the injury, the game’s television broadcasters announced that Tagovailoa had sustained head and neck injuries, was conscious and had been taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The Bengals won the game, 27-15.

The team said after the game that Tagovailoa was put into the league’s concussion protocol, which guides doctors in determining when a player can safely return to practice and games.

The Dolphins said on Twitter that Tagovailoa had movement in all his extremities, and later announced that he was expected to be released from the hospital in time to return to Florida with the team.

Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel told a sideline reporter that the injury was a “scary moment.”

“That was an emotional moment that is not part of the deal that anyone signs up for, even though you know it’s a possibility in football to have something that you have to be taken off on a stretcher,” McDaniel said after the game.

“All of his teammates, myself, we’re all very concerned. So the best news we can give is that everything is checked out that he didn’t have anything more serious than a concussion. He’ll be flying back with us here on the plane.”

Chris Nowinski, the chief executive of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, who has often criticized the N.F.L.’s handling of concussions, was unsparing in his criticism of the handling of the player’s health.

“This is a disaster,” he wrote on Twitter soon after Tagovailoa was wheeled off the field. “Pray for Tua. Fire the medical staffs and coaches. I predicted this, and I hate that I am right.”

Nowinski, who had warned before the game about the risks to Tagovailoa if he took the field so soon after hitting his head violently in the previous game, then responded to a Dolphins tweet about the quarterback’s injury by writing “you guys should go to jail for letting him play” so soon after hitting his head violently in the previous game.

Tagovailoa’s new injury raised fresh questions about the Dolphins’ handling of the league’s concussion protocol, which first arose because of the team’s decision to allow him to re-enter a game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday after a hit in which he appeared to slam his head on the turf and then struggled to stay on his feet.

In the second quarter of that game, in Miami Gardens, Fla., Tagovailoa was pushed to the ground and hit the back of his head on the turf. He immediately grabbed the sides of his helmet, staggered to his feet and, after taking a few steps, briefly collapsed to his knees as he tried to return to the huddle.

Tagovailoa walked off the field and spent the rest of the first half in the locker room, but he returned to play in the second half.

His return prompted the N.F.L. Players Association to begin an inquiry into the Dolphins’ handling of the injury, an option added to the collective bargaining agreement in 2020. The process includes reviewing video and interviewing team and league doctors who evaluated Tagovailoa. The process can take weeks.

The union said on Twitter on Thursday that it hoped Tagovailoa would have “a full and speedy recovery” and that its investigation was ongoing.

On a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Jeff Miller, the league’s executive vice president for communications, public affairs and policy, said that “every indication” was that the league protocols were followed by the team’s doctors and the league-affiliated neurologists at the game.

The Dolphins listed Tagovailoa as “questionable” on the team’s injury report before Thursday’s game with a “back/ankle” issue.

After Tagovailoa’s exit from a second game, the league’s confidence in its concussion protocols could be scrutinized anew.

Tagovailoa’s injury in a prime time N.F.L. game followed that of Bills cornerback Dane Jackson, who was carted off the field during a Monday night game on Sept. 19 after he inadvertently collided with teammate Tremaine Edmunds. The hit caused Jackson’s head and neck to snap back. He was released from Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo the following day after being cleared by a CT scan.

“It brings us back to the reality of the violence of the game, and I hope it gives people perspective,” said the veteran cornerback Richard Sherman, a commentator for Amazon, which broadcast Thursday’s game. “These are human beings and they have families and they have futures and they’re putting it all out on the line to entertain people.”

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa taken to hospital with head and neck injuries

CINCINNATI — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was taken to a local hospital with head and neck injuries suffered on a second-quarter sack in Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Tagovailoa hit the back of his head on the ground when he was sacked by Bengals nose tackle Josh Tupou, and his arms appeared to seize up almost immediately. He remained on the field for roughly 10 minutes before he was loaded onto a stretcher and taken away.

The Dolphins said shortly before halftime that he was conscious and had movement in all his extremities at the hospital, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. After the game, they said Tagovailoa was expected to be released from the hospital Thursday night and travel back to Miami with the team.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa called for him when he went down.

“I could tell it wasn’t the same guy that I was used to seeing,” McDaniel said. “It was a scary moment. He was evaluated for a concussion. He’s in the concussion protocol, but he’s being discharged.

“It’s an emotional moment. It’s not a part of the deal you sign up for. His teammates and myself were very concerned, but he got checked out and it’s nothing more serious than a concussion.”

The entire Dolphins team gathered at midfield as Tagovailoa was taken off, and the crowd chanted, “Tua! Tua!”

In Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa underwent concussion evaluations at halftime after he hit his head on the ground and then stumbled while trying to return to the huddle. The team initially listed him as questionable to return because of a head injury but later said it was a back injury that caused him to stumble. Tagovailoa said later in the week that he passed every evaluation he took before ultimately returning to the game.

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The NFL Players Association requested a review of the NFL’s concussion protocols following Tagovailoa’s quick return to the game.

“Player health and safety is at the core of the union’s mission. Our concern tonight is for Tua and we hope for a full and speedy recovery. Our investigation into the potential protocol violation is ongoing,” the NFLPA said in a statement after Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday night.

McDaniel, asked whether he knew with 100% certainty that Tagovailoa was not concussed after Sunday’s game, said yes, and noted that Tagovailoa was cleared by an independent neurologist.

“People don’t stray. We don’t mess with that. As long as I’m the head coach, that will never be an issue,” McDaniel said.

Asked whether there was anything he could have done differently following the Bills game, McDaniel said: “Absolutely zero patience for or will ever put a player in position for them to be in harm’s way. That’s not what I’m about at all. No outcome of a game would influence me to be irresponsible as a head coach of a football team.”

Before leaving the game, Tagovailoa was 8-for-14 for 110 yards and an interception.

Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill said players were asking for updates on the quarterback throughout the second half.

“You wanna win the game but obviously you wanna make sure that your brother is all right,” Hill said. “Football is just our part-time job, but that brotherhood is something that’ll last forever.”

Teddy Bridgewater entered in Tagovailoa’s place and finished 14-for-23 for 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the 27-15 loss. The Dolphins had rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson active for the first time in his career, as well.

Linebacker Jaelan Phillips said it was difficult to compartmentalize after seeing Tagovailoa stretchered off.

“That’s kind of what football is all about. We practice compartmentalizing every day. It’s not easy — we all love Tua,” he said. “It’s definitely tough to try to refocus, but we tried.”

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s injury sparks concern over the NFL’s

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