Tagovailoa out for Dolphins for Week 5 After Failed Concussion Procedures

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has officially been ruled out for Week 5 against New York, head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday after failed concussion procedures.

McDaniel said Tagovailoa has and will continue to progress through concussion protocol with no definite timeline set for his return. Backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will start for the Dolphins in his place Sunday.

Breaking: Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel announced that QB Tua Tagovailoa will be out this week against the New York Jets.

He is still in concussion protocol. pic.twitter.com/mFesLxKIOG

— ESPN (@espn) October 3, 2022

Proper Procedure

Tagovailoa was put into concussion protocol after being hit and carted off the field of Thursday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He had been tackled and thrown to the ground in the second half of the game and was then rushed via ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He was discharged that same night and flew back with the team to Miami. At the time, the team said all of Tagovailoa’s scans had come back clean.

The Dolphins medical staff and the team’s unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant had cleared Tagovailoa in the prior week’s game against the Buffalo Bills. Then on Thursday, Tagovailoa hit his head against the turf. He was able to get up, but when he tried to walk he stumbled and had to be assisted to the sideline. He was then cleared and rejoined the game to lead the team to a win against the Bills.

Tagovailoa and coach McDaniel said the stumble was due to a lower back injury he had sustained the play before. Tagovailoa was tested daily and cleared to play Thursday’s game against Cincinnati by NFL’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills.

New Procedures

Following the Thursday night game, the NFL Players Association requested an investigation into the concussion protocol that was conducted.

On Saturday, the NFL announced there would be an update to the concussion protocol. However, what the new parameters and procedures will be has not been agreed upon yet.

Along with this announcement, the NFLPA also announced that it was exercising its right to terminate the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant. This was due to several factors including his failure of understanding his role and displaying hostility during the investigation.

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