MIAMI September. 30 (UPI) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is experiencing headaches after suffering an injury to his head and is out for a while as part of an NFL investigation into the team’s compliance with the protocol for concussions and the team’s coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
“I’m not even thinking about timetables as an athlete,” McDaniel told reporters in Miami Gardens, Fla. “It’s about Tua as an individual. We’re more concerned about being well and getting all the testing completed. We’ll get him over the bridge according to schedules.”
Tagovailoa was hit on his head twice in the consecutive game in the opening period of the Dolphins defeat against Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati Bengals the previous Thursday night in Cincinnati. The player was removed from the game on a stretcher with less than six minutes before the half-time.
Tagovailoa received treatment at The University of Cincinnati Medical Center The player was released, and then traveled back with the team on Thursday night back to Miami.
“His teammates or my I’m not sure who was the most excited to meet his face on the airplane,” McDaniel said. “He was candid about the fact that he suffered from headaches and his manner of speaking was certainly normal Tua.
“Talking with him today, I suspect that he’s still experiencing some of the headaches. He’s probably finishing an MRI in the present. We’ll find out the outcomes from this. This is an additional precaution in addition to CT scans and X-rays that were taken last night.”
Tagovailoa was the first to suffer what the team initially believed to be the team initially deemed a “head injury to the head” during the first half of the Dolphins week 3 victory against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, however, he was cleared of the protocol and was able to play again and led to the NFL-NFLPA joint investigation.
Then he returned just four days after that against Bengals and was again injured.
“Player safety and health is an essential part of the union’s mandate,” the union said Thursday night. “Our priority is Tua and we pray for a speedy and complete recovery.
“Our probe into the possibility of a protocol breach is in progress.”
Bengals offensive tackle Josh Tupou, who weighs 350 pounds, tackled Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game, leading to his expulsion early. The quarterback then smashed his back as well as his back of his head on the grass. His arms seemed to swell up before his face.
He was then taken to the stretcher and taken via ambulances to University of Cincinnati Medical Center to be examined.
The Dolphins claimed that Tagovailoa was aware and moved throughout his body.
The Dolphins and NFL were frequently criticized on social media by former players, fans medical professionals and others on Thursday night and Friday morning in the wake of allowing Tagovailoa play following a terrifying incident by the quarterback in Week 3.
Tagovailoa suffered a blow on the play shortly after halftime against The Bills on Sunday at Miami Gardens. He jumped up to his feet and looked unbalanced before falling forward. He attempted to get up however he fell to the floor. Tagovailoa’s teammates helped him upright and took him into the locker rooms.
He then walked out of the tunnel , and returned to the field during the 3rd quarter, after the team announced that he had passed the protocol for concussions.
The Dolphins Tagovailoa, coach Mike McDaniel later said Tagovailoa was injured in an back neck and back injury in the collision. Tagovailoa also admitted that he injured his head in the same play.
McDaniel reiterated that McDaniel reiterated that the Dolphins adhered to protocol throughout the past week, beginning on Sunday. He also said that Tagovailoa didn’t suffer “any head injury at all” during the match against the Bills.
“There is no evidence medically from any sources of anything pertaining to your head.” McDaniel said. “If there had been any kind of thing hanging over that head area, I would not have been able to cope within myself.”
The NFL concussion protocol was created by a committee comprised of doctors who are independent and affiliated with the NFL and scientists, as well as advisers to the union representing players.
Spotters, trainers as well as the team doctor NFL game officials coaches, teammates, as well as non-affiliated neurotrauma experts are all able to initiate the protocol in games.
“That’s reason why NFL has protocols for each game played,” McDaniel told reporters on Thursday. “There exists an individual specialist that is specialized in the field of brain tissue in the context of protocol testsand protocols].
“For me so long as I’m here coaching I’m not going make a fuss about the entire situation. If there’s an indication that someone is suffering from concussion, they’re taken to the concussion protocol, and it’s very rigorous.
“We do not mess around with this. I’ve never had to and for as long as I’m head coach, it won’t be a problem you have to worry about.”
A former NFL tight end Benjamin Watson, a previous member of the executive committee of the union He was one of the former NFL players who voted against the decision to let Tagovailoa to participate in the game on Thursday in Cincinnati.
Long-time NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III also said that the Dolphins must “answer” to the question of why they decided to play Tagovailoa just four days following his injury.
“I am aware of what I saw and Tua was hit in the head this week,” Watson tweeted. “The the fact that Tua was able to come back to the field is all that’s wrong with the sport that so we all enjoy.
“A thorough investigation is in the pipeline. Please pray for the young man at this moment. It is a horrible thing to see.”
Former NFL team physician David Chao released a video for Sports Injury Central on Thursday night . He said Tagovailoa’s posture “can’t be explained” because of back neck or shoulder injuries, or anything other than “neurologic concerns.” He also stated that “second the impact syndrome” is an “greater issue” for quarterbacks.
Second-impact syndrome refers to a condition where a person experiences another head injury prior to completely healing from an first head trauma. It is a rare condition however it can be fatal.
Chris Nowinski, a behavioral neuroscientist at Boston University and the chief executive of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, also condemned the team for not having cleared Tagovailoa from the game of Week 4.
“This is a catastrophe,” he posted on Twitter. “Pray to Tua. Remove the medical staffs and coaches. I was able to predict this, and I am terribly disappointed that I was right.”
Nowinski was also quoted prior to playing that Tagovailoa shouldn’t not be playing and that a concussion in the future could “destroy his career or season.”
The NFL and players ‘ union told UPI on Wednesday that they would be launching an investigation in conjunction with the players union into the conformity to the guidelines. This investigation could run for two weeks.
NFL chief executive officer of communication policies and public relations Jeff Miller told reporters Wednesday during a conference call that “every sign” is that league rules were observed after Tagovailoa was injured in his injury in Week 3.
NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told NFL Network on Friday that Tagovailoa had been regularly checked for symptoms of concussion from Sunday. The team also cleared him by a neurotrauma specialist. Sills confirmed that the results of the NFLPA-NFL probe will be released to the public.
The players who go through any concussion examination during the day of an NFL game day require another evaluation performed on the next day by one of their medical team.
“I could tell that it was not the same man I was accustomed to being around,” McDaniel said of Tagovailoa on Thursday in Cincinnati. “It was an extremely scary experience. He was assessed for concussion. He’s on the concussion protocol and is being released.
“It’s emotion-filled. It’s not element of the contract you sign up to. The team and I were extremely concerned, but he eventually examined and was found to have not anything more serious than a head injury.”
The NFL announced in February that 187 concussions occurred in the 2021 season. This included in preseason, practice, as well as regular season games. The number was higher than 172 in the 2020 season, which was the season that was cut short due to the pandemic, and did not include preseason games.
Prior to the 2021 season the union of players reported that the average was 247 concussions were sustained per season during a five-year time frame.
The Dolphins (3-1) are scheduled to take on their rivals the New York Jets (1-2) in their next game on October. 9, in East Rutherford, N.J.
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