The Dolphins scored a major upset on Sunday, with the help of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The NFL Players Association wants to know if Tua should have been ruled out of the game.
PFT confirmed that the union had exercised its right to open an investigation into the decision to allow Tagovailoa’s return.
Tagovailoa hit his head on the grass in the first half, after being pushed to the ground. He swayed after getting up. The practice squad took him straight to the locker room.
Surprisingly enough, he returned after halftime.
The NFL provided the following explanation to PFT during the game.
“I can confirm that concussion protocol was followed, including a locker room examination,” NFL spokeswoman Megan Grant said via email. “These decisions, as you know, are made by a team physician and an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant.”
The concussion protocol provides that “[i]If the team physician, in consultation with the sideline UNC, determines that the instability is neurological in origin, the player is designated ‘No-Go’ and may not return to play.
In this case, it was evidently determined that the instability was not caused by head trauma. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport tweeted during the game, and Tua himself afterwards blamed the instability on a back injury which had not previously been disclosed by the team.
Here is the real question. How do doctors determine that the instability was caused by something other than a concussion? The player, who wants to keep playing, will be inclined to attribute all this to something other than a head injury. Certainly, the process requires something more than that.
We asked the league this question. We have not yet received a response.