The official investigation into the decision to clear Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa remains pending. For now, however, the NFL Players Association has decided to act.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFLPA exercised its prerogative to fire the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant involved in the decision to allow Tua to return to work.
The concussion protocol provides that players who demonstrate gross motor instability may only return if the team physician, in consultation with UNC, determines that the instability does not have a neurological cause.
Although no definite conclusion was made on how and why Tua returned, the union lost faith in UNC, given that the player’s impairment was evident. According to the available video, Tua should not have returned.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh made that point Friday, as tactfully as possible.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw last Sunday,” Harbaugh said of Tua clearly faltering and later returning to the game. “It was just something amazing to see. I’ve been coaching for 40 years now, in college in the NFL, almost 40, and I’ve never seen anything like it before. I couldn’t believe what I saw.
The NFLPA didn’t believe it either. And the union has seen enough to move on from the UNC that was involved in the situation, regardless of the precise findings of the investigation.