Dolphins place Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve after latest concussion
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins placed Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve after the quarterback was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years, the team announced on Tuesday.
Tagovailoa will be sidelined for at least four games with the designation. He will be eligible to return in Week 8 when the Dolphins host Arizona, but he must successfully complete a series of tests and evaluations required by the NFL’s concussion protocol before he can. return to camp.
Tagovailoa was injured in the third quarter of a Thursday night game against the Buffalo Bills in a game where he collided with Bills defensive end Damar Hamlin. He ran for a first down and then initiated contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding.
Players on both teams immediately reported that Tagovailoa was injured, and as he lay on the turf, the quarterback was showing some signs typically associated with a traumatic brain injury. He remained on the field for a couple of minutes, sat up and walked to the sideline. The Dolphins diagnosed him with a concussion just minutes later.
Coach Mike McDaniel has since cautioned against speculation about the quarterback’s football future, emphasizing that he is more focused on Tagovailoa than they are on what this latest concussion means for the team or his long career. Tagovailoa this week began the process of consulting neurologists about his health among the reports that he has no plans to retire.
Others around the NFL have offered their opinions on Tagovailoa’s future, including Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, who suggested that he retire.
“As far as Tua’s career goes, I think it’s a top priority for Tua to talk about Tua’s career,” McDaniel said Monday. “Reports are reports. As far as I’m concerned, I’m only concerned about the human being and where this is from day to day. I’ll let Tua be the champion of his own career.
McDaniel said Tagovailoa was at the team’s practice facility Monday smiling with his teammates and working with the trainers.
“He’s doing good, man. Talked to him, he’s in a good mood,” Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle said Monday. “(He has) the team in good spirits and everyone is praying for him and hoping (for his) health.”
Head injuries have become an all-too-familiar, all-too-feared occurrence throughout Tagovailoa’s career.
In a September 2022 game against Buffalo, he took a hit from linebacker Matt Milano, knocking him to the ground. He appeared disoriented afterwards and stumbled as he tried to get to his feet. He was cleared to return to that game and later said it was a back injury that caused the stumble. He was not diagnosed with a concussion.
Four days later, he was hit again during a Thursday night game at Cincinnati in which he was briefly knocked unconscious and carted off the field on a stretcher. As he lay on the turf, his fingers appeared to display the “fencing response,” a term typically associated with a brain injury. That time, he was placed in the concussion protocol.
The Tagovailoa situation it brought about rapid and significant changes to concussion protocols from the NFL and the NFL Players Association. The most notable addition is that an abnormality of balance and/or stability would be a symptom that prevents a player from returning to a game.
Tagovailoa briefly considered retirement after that, but instead went back and studied ways to better protect himself on the field, including taking jiu-jitsu classes before the 2023 season.
Tagovailoa said he has spoken to numerous neurologists who have told him they do not believe he will be more susceptible to head injuries than any other player in the future, and that he will not would no longer be at risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is the brain. disease associated with repeated blows to the head. He was also diagnosed with a concussion while in college at Alabama.
With Tagovailoa out, the Dolphins will go with backup Skylar Thompson when they travel to face Seattle on Sunday. Miami too signed Tyler Huntley off the Raven’s practice squad.
___