Dolphins team physician and the UNC were interviewed on Friday.
Just days before Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was stretchered off of the field against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, the former Crimson Tide signal-caller took a hit that resulted in impact to his head and back.
Tagovailoa left the game with what was originally announced as a head injury (later changed to back), but he returned to action to start the second half, helping earn Miami’s third victory of the season.
With Tagovailoa suffering another injury as a result of head and back trauma against the Bengals, the conversation surrounding the original injury and clearance has come into question. The NFLPA had originally decided to investigate before Thursday’s game, but according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant and Dolphins’ physician wasn’t interviewed until Friday.
Now, according to Pro Football Talk, the NFLPA has “exercised its prerogative to terminate” the UNC who was involved in Sunday’s decision to allow Tagovailoa to return to action.
ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques added that the same UNC would’ve been the same one to perform the follow-up evaluations throughout the week.
It’s unclear if the team physician has suffered any consequences.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was unimpressed by the ways the Miami Dolphins have handled Tua Tagovailoa’s on-field injuries.
In the third quarter of the Baltimore Ravens’ divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills on January 16, 2021, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw the ball away on an errant snap, was flagged for intentional grounding, and was sent to the sideline to go through concussion symptom testing after his head was slammed to the ground.
The Ravens were down 17-3 in a playoff game, Jackson showed symptoms, and he was taken out of the game for his own good. The Ravens were unable to score with backup Tyler Huntley, and they were eliminated from the postseason.
“I’m not frustrated at all. He was in the concussion protocol. He had a concussion and was ruled out with a concussion. That’s where it stands,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said of the situation after the game.
That was an example of a team looking out for a player’s interests, no matter the result. So when Harbaugh was asked on Friday about the Miami Dolphins’ handling of the Tua Tagovailoa situation, in which Tagovailoa appeared wobbly and was shaking his head following a hit in Miami’s win over the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, the Dolphins putting Tagovailoa back into the game in the second half, and starting Tagovailoa four days later against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football? Well, Harbaugh has earned a bit of credibility on the issue.
From ESPN’s Kimberley A. Martin:
Asked about concussions, John Harbaugh said he was “astonished” by what he saw last night w/ Tua… And he couldn’t believe what he saw last week either pic.twitter.com/3wkzrGXUbJ
“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” Harbaugh said about Thursday night. “I couldn’t believe what I saw last Sunday. It was astonishing to see. I’ve been coaching for 40 years — college and the NFL — and I’ve never seen anything like it before. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I really appreciate our doctors, and I appreciate our owner.”
The NFLPA asked for an investigation into the Dolphins’ decision to put Tagovailoa back in the game against the Bills, and you can certainly add Tagovailoa’s presence in the Bengals game, as well. Of course, Tagovailoa suffered a head injury in that game (which the Dolphins confirmed), Tagovailoa was taken to University of Cincinnati Hospital, and flew back to Miami with the team last night.
Following the injury in the Bengals game, Tagovailoa appeared to exhibit a “fencing response position,” which is generally an involuntary physical response to head trauma.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s response after the Bengals gave wasn’t quite as airtight as Harbaugh’s had been.
McDaniel on Tua: "The best news we could get is that everything is checked out and he didn't have anything more serious. A concussion and he will be flying back with us on the plane."
Well, we’d say that a concussion, and what appeared to be a physical reaction to what could be more serious head trauma — the results of which don’t usually present right away — is serious enough.
The point is, there are teams that handle concussions seriously, and teams that pay only the lip service to it that they’re obligated to pay. The safety of the players in this or that organization can clearly be greatly affected by the differences in adherence to an internal go/no-go policy.
During the Miami Dolphins’ victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed some time for what was originally reported as a head injury.
However, after the game, the quarterback and head coach discussed the back and ankle being more of an issue than the head at the time. While all three injuries are normally things that deserve attention after a game, answers are much more intriguing this week, as the Dolphins are preparing for a Thursday night meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals.
On Monday afternoon, head coach Mike McDaniel provided a bit of an update on Tagovailoa’s status the day after the win.
“I have an update that he’s feeling sore, but as far as everything else, we’re just acquiring information right now,” McDaniel said. “He was pretty sore, which we knew he was going to be. His ankle was a little sore too from all of his inner-trench warfare. These Thursday night games, you get used to just doing the best you can. We’re trying to get information as fast as possible. We’ll be working fluidly from that, but right now, 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 isn’t able to determine whether or not Tagovailoa will play against the defending AFC champions this week, but he’s confident in his backups if they’re needed.
“It’s my first time on a Thursday night game with Tua, so I don’t assume anything,” McDaniel said. “It wasn’t out of the extreme norm bumps and bruises after a game. As far as me being able to access my crystal ball, it’s broken right now. That’s one of the reasons why you have a roster of capable people, and that’s why we brought Teddy [Bridgewater] here and drafted Skylar [Thompson]. You have to be ready for these types of adjustments. Just like Teddy was ready in the game, we’ll be ready for whatever we’ll have to deal with moving forward.”
Bridgewater played three snaps on Sunday during Tagovailoa’s absence. He dropped back to pass on all three plays, throwing two incompletions and getting sacked once.
Thompson was a healthy scratch in Week 3, as he was during the first two games. While his performance during the preseason was admirable, making the jump to regular-season football at this level might be a bit much for him at this point.
The NFLPA wants to investigate how the Miami Dolphins handled Tua Tagovailoa’s first-half injury against the Buffalo Bills.
One of the more remarkable aspects of the Miami Dolphins’ 21-19 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday was that the Dolphins did that without their starting quarterback in some of the second quarter.
Why? Because with 2:28 left in the first half, Tagovailoa was hit hard by Buffalo linebacker Matt Milano, and his head hit the turn equally hard. Tagovailoa was wobbly and shaking his head as he got up, and this looked for all the world as a prototypical concussion.
This is what happened to Tua Tagovailoa after his head hit the turf hard. Not sure how you let him back in.
Tagovailoa was taken into the NFL’s concussion protocol, and came out to play for the entire second half. As the game progressed, news leaked regarding the supposed source of Tagovailoa’s malady.
My understanding of the Tua Tagovailoa situation: He tweaked his back in the 1st quarter on a sneak and didn’t miss time. After the Matt Milano hit, his back locked up — leading to him wobbling. Into the locker room for a full concussion check. Fully cleared. Now on the field.
Given the NFL’s highly specious history regarding head trauma, this was met with massive suspicion, and rightly so. After the game, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel echoed this diagnosis.
“That was live-speed action,” McDaniel said. “Now, Tua, he went out with a lower back, and I hadn’t had that rep with him yet. He kind of got bent back pretty significantly on a quarterback sneak earlier. I was kind of with everyone else. When he hit his head on the ground, I assumed it was a head injury, but his legs got wobbly because his lower back was completely loose and as he described it, he said his lower back was like Gumby or something. That is a challenge.
“That happens all the time in NFL games. It was kind of fast and furious. We had some skill position players get dinged. We had some linemen fight through it, but those are things that you just have to be able to adjust on the fly. Your whole staff better be in concert. You better have contingencies, and you better know some plays you want to go to if things happen. We were able to do the best we could, but it was a lot better when we had everyone back. That’s for sure.”
Tagovailoa really wanted everybody to know that he’s good.
“On the quarterback sneak [the play before], I kind of got my legs caught under someone, and then they were trying to push back and then kind of felt like I hyper-extended my back or something. Then on the next play I kind of hit my back and kind of hurt. Then I got up and then that’s kind of why I stumbled – my back kind of locked up on me. For the most part, I’m good. I passed whatever concussion protocol they had, so I’m good.”
Maybe it’s all true, but the NFLPA stepped in right away, as it should have.
NFLPA has told the NFL that it wants to initiate a review of the concussion protocols in light of Tua Tagovailoa’s return to today’s game in Miami, per source.
In 2018, the NFL made improvements to its concussion protocol in an attempt to improve its process.
From the league:
According to the policy, the NFL and NFLPA will each designate a representative to monitor the implementation of the protocol and investigate potential violations. The investigation will not reach medical conclusions; it will only determine whether the protocol was followed. Following the investigation, the NFL and NFLPA will review the findings to determine if a violation occurred and, if so, to recommend the proper disciplinary response. If the parties are unable to agree, the matter will be brought to a third party arbitrator. After conducting a thorough review, the arbitrator will issue a report to the Commissioner, NFLPA Executive Director and the involved parties.
As jointly agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA, the Commissioner retains absolute discretion in determining penalties for violations of the concussion protocol. Potential disciplinary action includes:
A first violation will require the club employees or medical team members involved to attend remedial education; and/or result in a maximum fine of $150,000 against the club.
Second and subsequent violations of the concussion protocol will result in a minimum fine of $100,000 against the club.
In the event the parties agree that a violation involved aggravating circumstances, the club shall be subject, in the first instance, to a fine no less than $50,000. The Commissioner shall determine appropriate discipline for subsequent violations involving aggravating circumstances.
In the event that the Commissioner determines that the club’s medical team failed to follow the protocol due to competitive considerations, the Commissioner may require the club to forfeit draft pick(s) and impose additional fines exceeding those amounts set forth above.
The enforcement policy is one of many collaborations between the NFL and NFLPA to improve player health and safety.
We’ll see how this goes for the Dolphins. Hopefully, Tagovailoa was not put in a position where any head trauma would be exacerbated by further head trauma, as so many players have before.
During the Miami Dolphins’ Week 3 victory over the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa appeared to be dealing with concussion-like symptoms.
Tagovailoa, on a third-and-3 play, hit wide receiver Jaylen Waddle for a first down, but after the ball was thrown he was knocked to the ground by Matt Milano. That hit, which was penalized for roughing the passer, caused Tagovailoa’s head to bounce off of the ground.
When Tagovailoa got to his feet, he stumbled and appeared to be unable to walk under his own power. He made it to the locker room with the help of trainers, but it didn’t look good, as Miami announced he was dealing with a head injury. Despite this, Tagovailoa missed only one series, returning after halftime.
Under the 2020 CBA, the NFLPA, NFL Management Council or any player has the right (independently or collectively) to bring forward a complaint about an alleged failure to follow concussion protocol, to be investigated and resolved by the union and management council.
It was just announced that Jacoby Brissett will start for the Miami Dolphins tonight on Thursday Night Football.
The Baltimore Ravens didn’t know exactly which quarterback they’d be going up against, until 6:16 pm. It was announced on Twitter that Jacoby Brissett will start tonight as Tua Tagovailoa is still recovering from a finger injury. Brissett is a decent starter in the league and can put up numbers and has a better chance of making an impact on the game so the Baltimore Ravens defense needs to be prepared for the big plays. It’s another setback for the former first-round draft pick out of Alabama who still can’t seem to stay healthy.
Jacoby Brissett will start for Dolphins tonight, sources tell me. Tua will backup still recovering from fractured middle finger.
The Baltimore Ravens need to start the game fast and get a lead early in order to prevent the Miami Dolphins from having a chance to win. Jacoby Brissett is very capable of putting up numbers with his arm and his legs. Brissett will probably be targeting Anthony Averett on the outside. With the absence of Brandon Williams, the front-seven needs to get good pressure on Brissett.
If the Dolphins want to beat the Raiders without Tua Tagovailoa, they should use Jacoby Brissett as a read-option option.
It was Week 3 of the 2016 season, and Bill Belichick had a problem. Tom Brady, his starting quarterback, was serving the third of his four-game suspension for his involvement in the DeflateGate scandal. Jimmy Garoppolo, his backup quarterback, was out with a shoulder injury he’d suffered in Week 2 against the Dolphins. Jacoby Brissett, Belichick’s third quarterback, was a third-round rookie out of North Carolina State, who had completed six of nine passes for 92 yards in relief of Garoppolo. It was now on Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to get Brissett ready to start against the Houston Texans — on a short week, as the Patriots-Texans game was on the following Thursday night.
The plan Belichick and McDaniels put together was a bit of genius. Instead of having Brissett rely on his arm from the pocket (something he wasn’t ready to do at that point), the Patriots had Brissett run zone-read stuff that the Texans were not at all ready to defend. In a 27-0 beatdown of the Texans, Brissett ran the ball eight times for 48 yards and a touchdown, which negated to a point his passing performance (11 of 19 for 103 yards). The Patriots also had running back LeGarrette Blount, who bullied Houston’s defense on 24 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, and it was the conflict between Brissett and Blount that drove the Texans’ defense into a ditch.
Sep 22, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is congratulated by defensive end Jabaal Sheard (93) after scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans as head coach Bill Belichick takes the ball from him to save it during the first half at Gillette Stadium. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)
Fast-forward to now, where Brissett is Tua Tagovailoa’s backup with the Dolphins. Brissett will start at least the next three games, as the team placed Tagovailoa on injured reserve with fractured ribs suffered early in Miami’s Week 2 loss to the Bills. Brissett completed 24 of 40 passes for 169 yards and an interception in a 35-0 loss. Now, Brissett has to face a Raiders defense that has shown improvement in 2021, and the Dolphins have to deal with the Raiders’ explosive passing game, which could have the Dolphins playing catch-up. If head coach Brian Flores and offensive coordinators Eric Studesville and George Godsey want to avoid a 1-2 start to the season, they might have to think outside the box as the Patriots did back then.
If I were in charge of Miami’s offense, I would point an option run game directly at Maxx Crosby, the Raiders’ outstanding edge defender. Through the first two games of the 2021 season, no defensive player in the league had more total pressures than Crosby’s 19, but Crosby’s Tasmanian Devil play style does leave him open to misdirection in the run game. We saw this when the Raiders had to deal with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Week 1. On this play, Crosby was so bent on getting to the pocket, he got lost when Jackson decided to run.
If I'm in charge of Miami's offense, I'm using Jacoby Brissett in an option package, and I'm pointing it right at Maxx Crosby (98). Crosby is hell-bent on every play, which is great, but he is susceptible to misdirection. pic.twitter.com/akKpKs4Jec
Back in 2016, Brissett found it easy to game the Texans’ aggressive edge-rushers with even the most rudimentary quarterback run concepts.
Based on Flores’ comments on Friday, the head coach — who, by the way, was the Patriots’ linebackers coach in 2016 — may be ready to unleash some different stuff.
“Yeah, we want to move the ball effectively. We want to have balance – run, pass, screens, RPOs – however best way to move it. We’ve got to obviously be more efficient offensively. You always want balance. I think it helps in both the run and the pass game when you have that kind of balance and the defense doesn’t know what it’s going to be, but I think you need to have variety in your schemes, your concepts, run, pass, play-action, drop back, whatever the case may be. But at the end of the day, it’s about the execution and getting 11 guys on the same page and that’s what we’re working towards in practice and our preparation this week. It’s a very good opponent we’re facing. They play fast, they play physical, they’ve got a good rush, they’re well-coached, they tackle well. So we have our hands full for sure.”
Focus on the idea that the Dolphins want to set things up where they don’t want the defense knowing what’s coming, and a possible Brissett option package plays in pretty well.
“They’re good players,” Flores said, when talking about Crosby and fellow edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. “Good in the run game, good in the pass game. There’s a myriad of ways you try to limit their productivity, but they do a nice job. I think both guys have played in this league. They’ve seen a lot of different ways that they’ve been attacked, but it’s about execution at the end of the day. It’s about execution. It’s about getting in and out of the huddle, getting 11 guys on the same page and executing a specific play – run, pass, screen, draw – and at the end of the day, it’s about execution.”
One thing’s for sure — if the Dolphins want Brissett to win from the pocket, there are going to be problems. Miami’s offensive line has not played well this season, and against the Bills last week, Brissett — whose processing speed could charitably be described as “deliberate” — was pressured on 28 of his 47 dropbacks, completing 13 of 22 passes for 106 yards and an interception. So, why not deploy a multiple run game with option aspects to try and throw the Raiders off base.
With firsthand experience, former Baltimore Ravens TE Dennis Pitta believes teams interested in Tua Tagovailoa should still draft him early
It seems as though everyone has had a thought on Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his hip injury. Once thought to be the obvious top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, a dislocated hip suffered during his junior season has his future far murkier. But at least one person believes that he can get past his hip injury and return to the player everyone once raved about.
Former Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta has been through a very similar situation. Pitta infamously dislocated his hip while with the Ravens, injuring it three times in total before ending his career. With that firsthand experience, Pitta knows what Tagovailoa is going through and even went as far as to say teams who had him ranked highly should still take him early in the 2020 NFL Draft.
“I mean, if he’s the top quarterback on my board, I’m going to take him high,” Pitta said on the RapSheet and Friends podcast. “And (the hip is) really the only potential issue I see for him. He’s a great kid, he’s got no concerns or red flags anywhere in his character. He’s obviously an incredibly productive player and a great talent. So I wish the best for him.”
With the coronavirus pandemic making getting medical tests done a far more complex process, it makes sense teams would be a little unwary of picking Tagovailoa as their next franchise quarterback. Pitta said he feels bad his own situation is likely working against Tagovailoa. He also acknowledged that “it’s tough to say exactly how his hip will respond” and pointed to two other players who have had wildly different experiences following the injury.
“It’s a unique injury and one that doesn’t quite frankly happen to a lot of football players or athletes in general,” Pitta said. “Now there’s a number of high-profile cases, Bo Jackson being one of them. I think even among current players you have a guy like C.J. Mosley who’s done it and obviously he hasn’t had any lingering effects from it. I think the difference between myself and those guys is a number of things.”
While Jackson suffered the same dislocation, his experience differs wildly from Pitta, Mosley and Tagovailoa. Jackson ended up suffering from avascular necrosis of the hip joint — the death of the bone tissue from lack of blood supply — due to the injury and was never able to see the football field again. Pitta and Mosley were both able to return to their football careers, albeit with different results.
While Mosley finished his collegiate career with Alabama and enjoyed four Pro Bowl seasons with the Ravens before signing a huge contract with the New York Jets last offseason, Pitta wasn’t as lucky. Pitta came back from his injuries to have a stellar final season, catching 86 passes for 729 yards and two touchdowns before reinjuring it in practice in 2017, ending his career.
There’s really no telling how Tagovailoa’s NFL career will pan out at this point. He could be like Mosley and return to form, enjoying a stellar career. Or he could be like Pitta and reinjure his hip repeatedly before retiring early. It’s perhaps the biggest gamble in the 2020 NFL Draft but at least Pitta is in Tagovailoa’s corner.
Tua Tagovailoa has been waiting for March 9th to be released from doctors. According to Ian Rapoport, he now can resume football activities.
One of the biggest questions surrounding this year’s NFL Draft class concerns form Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He dislocated his hip in a game against Mississippi State that caused him to be hospitalized. At the NFL Combine, Tua stated that he would be cleared on March 9th.
#Bama QB Tua Tagovailoa had his four-month scans today on his dislocated hip, and sources described them as “very good with no concerns.” Essentially, as positive as possible. Accordingly, he’ll now begin the slow progression of activity to get his body ready for play.
On Monday March 9th, Tua Tagovailoa received the news that he was waiting on. Now he will focus on getting back into football shape in hopes of chasing his NFL dreams. He is currently projected as the number two quarterback in this class and a top ten pick.
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and whether he would be entering the 2020 NFL Draft following a hip injury he suffered against Mississippi State. Well, Tony Pauline with Pro Football Network is …
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and whether he would be entering the 2020 NFL Draft following a hip injury he suffered against Mississippi State.
Sources close to PFN Draft Analyst and Insider @TonyPauline say that Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is telling people he is very likely to enter the 2020 NFL Draft.
Here is what Pauline said about Tagovailoa during an episode of the NFL Draft Insiders podcast, which is through Pro Football Network:
“I am told by people who are close to him [Tagovailoa] that Tagovailoa is telling people that he is very likely to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. This shouldn’t be a surprise – maybe it’s just an affirmation to some people. But I think right now, the chances of him returning to Alabama, from what I’m hearing from people close to him, are very, very slim.”
It will be interesting to see whether or not this actually comes to fruition. It would absolutely make sense considering how much Tagovailoa would be risking returning for his senior season.
During his 32 career games played, which only 23 were games in which he started, Tagovailoa completed 69.3 percent of his passes for 7,442 yards, 87 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions.
