Mike McDaniel on Monday said the Dolphins are “happy to comply” with any investigation into their handling of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s injury during the team’s 21-19 win over the Buffalo Bills. The first-year coach was also noncommittal about Tagovailoa’s availability for Thursday night’s road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
According to multiple reports, the NFL Players’ Association has asked the NFL to look into Tagovailoa’s concussion check after he hit his head and back on the ground after being shoved by inside linebacker Matt Milano in the second quarter of Sunday’s game.
Tagovailoa got to his feet but his legs wobbled and he stumbled, sparking concern that he might have sustained a head injury.
He was immediately taken to the team’s locker room and listed as questionable to return because of a head injury. Tagovailoa, however, returned for the start of the second half. He completed 13 of 18 passes for 186 yards and one touchdown. Tagovailoa said after the game that he injured his back on a quarterback sneak in the first quarter and his fall to the ground reaggravated the back injury and caused him to stumble. He also said he passed a concussion test before returning to the game.
“I kind of got my legs caught under someone and then they were trying to push,” Tagovailoa said, “and then I kind of felt like I hyperextended my back or something.”
McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s back and ankle are feeling sore, but his ailment isn’t “out of the extreme norm of bumps and bruises after a game.”
Asked about the process that led Tagovailoa to be taken back to the locker room, McDaniel said his attention immediately turned to calling plays for Teddy Bridgewater, who entered the game at quarterback. He was later informed of Tagovailoa’s status at halftime.
“It was a completely different source of issue from what everyone else was really looking at from that prism,” McDaniel said. “They went through the protocols and in that process during the game, and it was something that we wouldn’t have moved forward in the direction we did had there been any sort of red flags. You can’t keep quarterbacks out of harms way, so if he had a head issue, he wouldn’t have been back out there.”
The league and NFLPA’s game-day concussion test is a multipronged set of protocols that includes a provision for “gross motor instability,” which disqualifies a player from returning to the game if the team physician and an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant determine it is caused by neurological issues. It also includes a cervical spine exam to assess range of motion and pain.
There are four “no-go” signs and symptoms under which a player must be taken immediately to the locker room and cannot return to the game: loss of consciousness, gross motor instability, confusion and amnesia.
Bridgewater, who played three snaps after Tagovailoa left the game, is expected to start at quarterback if Tagovailoa cannot play. Rookie Skylar Thompson has been a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season but would likely be activated as Bridgewater’s backup.
McDaniel said the team, which will hold a walkthrough Tuesday, will have to monitor the statuses of other players who sustained injuries on Sunday or played through injuries. Left tackle Terron Armstead has been sidelined or limited in practice with a lingering toe injury but hasn’t missed a game this season. Cornerback Xavien Howard played through a groin injury, and several others players briefly left the game with injuries but returned.
“Especially in a hard-fought game like that, not just Tua but there are a lot of players that we’ll be adjusting to on the fly seeing if they can turn it around and give a healthy outing on Thursday,” McDaniel said.
