MIAMI — The unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant involved in Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion check last Sunday has been fired by the NFL Players Association, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald, after the union found the person made multiple mistakes in the evaluation.
The NFLPA launched an investigation into the Dolphins’ handling of Tagovailoa’s injury against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 25 after Tagovailoa hit his head on the ground and stumbled before being removed from the field. Tagovailoa was listed as questionable to return with a head injury and came back into the game at the start of the second half. He later said he passed a concussion test and it was a back injury that caused him to stumble.
Tagovailoa sustained a concussion and was carted off the field on a stretcher in the Dolphins’ loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, sparking more questions about why he played just four days after hitting his head against the Bills. His hands tensed up in a manner consistent with a fencing response — a classic symptom of a concussion — and he lay motionless for several minutes while trainers attended to him.
The Dolphins said Tagovailoa was conscious and had movement in all his extremities as he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He was later discharged from the hospital and flew back to Miami with the team Thursday night.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel on Friday continued to defend playing Tagovailoa, saying the third-year quarterback was cleared by multiple medical professionals. NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills said Tagovailoa passed multiple concussion evaluations in the days after the Bills game. McDaniel said Tagovailoa had a headache Thursday night and Friday morning but “his personality was definitely normal Tua.”
Initial test results revealed no broken bones or fractures, according to a league source, and when McDaniel spoke to reporters Friday afternoon, he said Tagovailoa was in the process of finishing an MRI.
Tagovailoa on Friday gave an update on his status for the first time since sustaining the concussion, writing on Twitter that he’s “feeling much better.”
McDaniel said there is no timetable on a return for Tagovailoa, who is the concussion protocol. If Tagovailoa has to miss any time, Teddy Bridgewater will start at quarterback, McDaniel said.
