The Miami Dolphins and NFL have been criticized for their management of injuries to Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. NBC’s Cris Collinsworth also gave criticism toward the Dolphins and NFL on Sunday Night Football.
Collinsworth and Mike Tirico were talking about how the NFL’s concussion protocol will change as a result of the investigation into Tagovailoa’s injury. The former Bengals wide receiver said that the new concussion protocol must pass the eye test for NFL fans.
“It just does. What we saw from Tua, he may well have had a back injury, I don’t know, but it looked the way he was stumbling, that’s what you see when someone is concussed, whether it was or not,” Collinsworth said.
He said that teams and leagues have to take care of players and prevent the players from getting out of the game, no matter how big a game it was or how important the player is.
The criticism arose as Collinsworth and Tirico discussed Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate’s first-half injury, which prevented him from returning to the game in the second half after entering the concussion protocol.
Collinsworth and Tirico both expected the game to be stopped by the person monitoring the game from the press box to check on Brate, despite the fact that the injury occurred after the two-minute warning. He said that the NFL should learn from what has happened to be better because it is a ”really dangerous issue for them.”
“They don’t want to get too involved, but this is a really dangerous issue for the National Football League. They need to get this exactly right,” Collinsworth said. “And they have to take advantage of what they’ve learned over this past week and get better as a league.”
NFL and NFLPA are now working to modify concussion protocols and they anticipate changes “in the coming days.” They released this statement tonight: pic.twitter.com/siaE7Xh7dA
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2022
Tagovailoa’s injury further investigation
In the second quarter of the Week 3 game, Tagovailoa’s head hit the field after being drilled by Bills linebacker Matt Milano. As he attempted to stand up and walk back to the huddle, he stumbled and lost his balance.
Tagovailoa was taken out of the game after the stumble, but he returned to begin the second half. Because he returned to the game, the NFL Players Association announced an investigation about his return after injury.
The team said that Tagovailoa had suffered a back injury, then started Thursday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was slammed by Josh Tupou to the ground on a sack in the second quarter of that game and was unable to get up. He was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken to the nearest hospital. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said after the game that Tagovailoa had a concussion and had followed the protocol.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tagovailoa is expected to be interviewed early this week as part of the NFL and NFLPA’s joint investigation into his quick return from injury in last week’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
The NFL and NFLPA both agree that the concussion protocol needs to be updated. They are currently working to improve player safety by modifying concussion protocols, with changes expected in the coming days.
As part of the investigation, the NFLPA fired the UNC involved in allowing Tagovailoa to return to the Sunday game due to the doctor’s several mistakes. After entering the concussion protocol, the player must be cleared to return to the game by a team physician or a UNC.
McDaniel said on Friday that Tagovailoa would be out indefinitely from the team
NFLPA and NFL soon are expected to agree to new protocols in which any time any player demonstrates any instability, he is not allowed to return to the game. The rule could go into effect as early as week 5.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2022