NFL players association executive director DeMaurice Smith said the union plans to “pursue every legal option” as it continues its investigation into how the injury to Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was handled over the last week.
Smith sent a statement to two members of the Amazon broadcast team, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman, after Tagovailoa left Thursday’s game against the Dolphins with a head and neck injury. His departure from the contest came just five days after he temporarily left last Sunday’s game against the Bills after his head hit the ground, but returned to play in the second half after he and the team said he cleared concussion protocol.
“We insisted on these rules to avoid exactly this scenario,” Smith wrote, per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. “We will pursue every legal option, including making referrals against the doctors to licensing agencies and the team that is obligated to keep our players safe.”
Smith’s text comes on the heels of a statement issued by the entire NFLPA, voicing the union’s concern over what transpired.
“Player health and safety is at the core of the union’s mission,” the NFLPA tweeted. “Our concern tonight is for Tua and we hope for a full and speedy recovery. Our investigation into the potential protocol violation is ongoing.”
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The NFLPA launched an investigation into the Dolphins’ handling of Tagovailoa’s concussion check on Sunday after he returned to the game against Buffalo and played the entire second half. He was placed on the team’s injury report with a back injury and considered questionable to play until about two hours before kickoff on Thursday.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel was asked to confirm that the 24-year-old didn’t suffer a concussion in Week 3 and reiterated that he feels strongly about adhering to the concussion protocols rules in order to best protect his players.
“Yeah, otherwise, we would’ve reported him having a head injury. That’s why the NFL has these protocols,” McDaniel said Thursday, via Will Manso of WPLG Local 10 News. “There’s an independent specialist that specializes in the specialty of brain matter so, for me, as long as I’m coaching here, I’m not gonna fudge that whole situation. If there’s any sort of inclination that someone has a concussion, they go into concussion protocol that’s very strict.
“People don’t vary or stray, we don’t mess with that. Never have. And, as long as I’m the head coach, that’ll never be an issue you guys will have to worry about.”
Tagovailoa left the short-week game in Cincinnati after he was tackled hard by Bengals tackle Josh Tupou in the second quarter of the contest. His head hit the ground on the play, and his fingers curled as he laid down on the ground.
Dolphins trainers brought a stretcher out to take Tagovailoa off the field, and backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater came in to replace him.
Miami later announced that the 24-year-old was taken out of the game with neck and head injuries. He was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the Dolphins noted that he was conscious and “has movement in all his extremities.”
The team later shared Tagovailoa had been discharged from the medical center on Thursday night and would travel back to Miami with his team. He is now in concussion protocol.
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