Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took one step ahead in returning to football on Wednesday after receiving a head injury two weeks prior. He was reportedly seen in practice with a limited capacity, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said that he wouldn’t join the team on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, let alone start the game.
“He hasn’t done a thing on the football field for literally two weeks,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “So, I don’t think that that would be fair to the player. That wouldn’t be fair to the team. . . . I don’t feel comfortable putting him in that situation.
“Now, when talking about this week and playing, I don’t see a scenario, I don’t see him being active. I do not plan to have him play at all.”
The coach said that Tagovailoa would not rush to go back into action, but several independent neurologists had allowed Tagovailoa to continue limited football activities.
“In these situations, you are relying on all medical advice and what people can do and what we’ve been told is he can go out and throw and do some individual work this week,” McDaniel said. “So that’s exciting for everybody just because, you know, really we just miss his personality. He’s a guy that we rely on that, not to mention all of his play and all that stuff.”
Tagovailoa’s injury updates NFL protocol
Tagovailoa suffered a severe head injury in the first half of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was ruled out of the game and was taken to the nearest hospital. After the incident, he stopped participating in practice and didn’t play in last Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
Before playing against the Bengals, Tagovailoa sustained a serious blow and hit his head on the turf against the Buffalo Bills on September 26. He was walked to the locker room and examined for a concussion. He was then cleared by the medical staff to return to the game in the third quarter.
This decision drew criticism for the NFL and the Dolphins’ handling of player injuries. Following Tagovailoa’s quick return, the NFL Players Association reviewed the concussion protocol and fired the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who cleared Tagovailoa for making several errors during the evaluation process, including not checking his back during the initial evaluation.
The NFL and NFLPA updated the concussion protocol last Saturday. They added to the protocol that players who show ataxia symptoms, which is an abnormality of balance, stability, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech caused by a neurological issue, will not be allowed to return to a game.
Teddy Bridgewater’s concussion
Other than Tagovailoa, Teddy Bridgewater who filled in for Tagovailoa after being ruled out against the Bengals, was also put into the concussion protocol. Bridgewater showed no symptoms and was not diagnosed with a concussion during his initial or further exams, but an ATC spotter saw that he displayed ataxia after the hit.
Bridgewater was expected to join Wednesday’s practice, but he didn’t show up. McDaniel said that he could resume limited football activities on Thursday. Bridgewater could be a backup against the Vikings if he is cleared this week.
Thompson starts Sunday’s game
Because Tagovailoa and Bridgewater are still in concussion protocol, Miami will put rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson to start against the Vikings on October 16, UniBet AZ sportsbook has set the Dolphins as -3.5 point dogs in the game.
McDaniel is confident in Thompson’s ability to improve after giving him a starter’s workload this whole week. At the very least, he said that the rookie might feel more at ease having another quarterback as the backup.
Thompson replaced Bridgewater in last week’s game against the Jets after being ruled out on the first offensive play. He finished 19 of 33 passes for 166 yards with one interception and zero touchdowns.
“All Skylar had to talk to was (Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell) Bevel and myself, and we’re great guys, but not that great of conversations,” McDaniel said.