Discussions of the frightening head injury that Tua Tagovailoa suffered during the Dolphins’ Thursday night loss to the Bengals have dominated NFL discourse over the last day. On Friday, Mike McDaniel spoke to the media about the status of his young quarterback, and stressed that his concern his Tagovailoa’s health, first and foremost.
After heading to the hospital following the sack that knocked him out of the game, Tagovailoa—wearing a neck brace—was able to fly back with the team on Thursday night, sitting next to McDaniel on the trip. Even hours after the injury, and while admitting that he still had a headache, McDaniel told the media that Tagovailoa was concerned about missing upcoming games on Miami’s schedule, and pondered when he might be able to return to play.
“Tua, let’s stop this right now,” McDaniel recalls telling his young quarterback, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. “Don’t even think about a game. … Let’s worry about you and your head and being a healthy human being. We’ll worry about playing football later.”
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Tagovailoa, who is now in the NFL’s concussion protocols and is set to have an MRI, played against Cincinnati just four days after leaving Miami’s Week 3 game against the Bills with what looked like a potential head injury. He eventually returned to the game, leading the Dolphins to an upset win, later being diagnosed with a minor back injury.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, told NFL Network that Tagovailoa was evaluated for concussion symptoms every day since last Sunday’s game, and was cleared by an independent neurologist.
“I have 100% conviction in our process regarding our players,” McDaniel said Friday, when asked about the handling of Tagovailoa since the Buffalo game, per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. “I make it very clear from the onset that my job here is for the players. I take that very seriously. No one in the building strays from that.”
He added that there “was no medical indication” that Tagovailoa should not have played on Thursday. He also said that he hasn’t started to think about any timeline for Tagovailoa’s return.
The NFLPA is investigating the franchise’s handling of concussion protocols with its quarterback, though league and Dolphins officials deny skirting any of the league’s protocols during or after the game against Buffalo, pledging full transparency in its findings.
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