In week two of the NFL season the Miami Dolphins played the Buffalo Bills.  Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a head injury when Bill Linebacker Matt Milano hit him after the play and his head slammed into the turf. He tried to get up, but stumbled and fell down again. He was then brought into the locker room and went into concussion protocol. Tagovailoa then came back into the game at the start of the second half and played the rest of the game. 

Many people are very concerned about why he was allowed to return to the game after suffering such a severe hit to his head. Not only did he return to the week two game, but Tagovailoa was cleared to play in the week three Thursday night football game against the Bengals. The injury from the previous game was only listed as a back injury and there was no mention of his head. Between those two games he only had 3 days to recover before he was back out on the field. 

During the second quarter of the week three game Tagovailoa faked a hand off to Chase Edmonds and rolled out to the left. He was looking down field when he was  wrestled down to the ground by Josh Topou, and his head slammed into the turf again. After the hit he lay motionless on the turf except for his fingers which were stuck in an awkward position as if he was speaking in sign language. He was then carted off the field while his teammates gathered around him. He was immediately brought to a hospital where it was determined he had a concussion and had suffered severe head trauma. He flew back to Miami with his team later that night. 

The neurologist who cleared Tagovailoa during the week two game was fired. The real question after all of this: Why was Tagovailoa cleared to go back in the week two game and start the next week versus the Bills? The problem may be that the NFL’s concussion protocol is not thorough enough. Or perhaps the Dolphins organization prioritized winning over Tagovailoa’s health and well-being. The NFLPA (the National Football League Players Association) has launched an investigation into the Dolphins and how they evaluated Tagovailoa’s concussion. This could expose Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel or the Dolphins athletic trainers for treating the concussion improperly. On October 8th, in response to what happened to Tagovailoa, the NFL implemented the “Tua rule” where they  prevent players from returning to a game if they show gross motor instability, like Tagovailoa experienced. The NFL has also implemented a rule where the athletic training staff will take a players helmet if he shows signs of a concussion and will only give it back when they are cleared to play again. While this is big step for the NFL and for all of the players safety, it might be too little, too late for Tua Tagovailoa.