Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carted off the field on a stretcher during a game Thursday night after what appeared to be his second head injury in less than a week when he was thrown to the ground and slammed his head on the turf.
Midway through the second quarter of a game between Miami and the Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa fell back to pass midfield. Bengal defensive tackle Josh Tupou grabbed Tagovailoa, spinning him around and throwing him to the ground. Tagovailoa’s elbow hit the ground first, then the back of his helmet.
Tagovailoa immediately raised his hands with fingers splayed, a gesture called a “fencing response” that can be a sign of brain injury. Dolphins trainers ran onto the field and after several minutes placed Tagovailoa on a stretcher and wheeled him off the field.
A few minutes later, the broadcasters announced that Tagovailoa had sustained head and neck injuries, was conscious and was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The team said on Twitter that he had movement in all his extremities and later said he was expected to be discharged from the hospital in time to return to Florida with the team.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel told a reporter on the sidelines that the injury was a “scary moment.”
Chris Nowinski, the executive director of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, who has often criticized the NFL’s handling of concussions, was blunt Thursday night.
“This is a disaster,” he wrote on Twitter shortly after Tagovailoa was rolled off the field. “Pray for Tua. Fire the medical staff and trainers. I predicted that and I hate that I’m right.”
But Tagovailoa’s injury raised new questions about the Dolphins’ handling of the league’s concussion protocol, which first arose because the team decided to allow him to return to a game on Sunday after a goal that appeared to beat his batting the Buffalo Bills head on the turf made him shake.
In the second quarter of that game in Miami Gardens, Fla., Tagovailoa was knocked to the ground, hit his head, grabbed the sides of his helmet, staggered to his feet and after a few strides fell to his knees. He left the field and spent the rest of the first half in the dressing room but returned to play in the second half.
His return prompted the NFL Players Association to open an investigation into the Dolphins’ handling of the injury, an option added to the collective bargaining agreement in 2020. The process includes reviewing videos and interviewing team and league doctors who diagnosed Tagovailoa. The process can take weeks. The union said on Twitter on Thursday that it hopes Tagovailoa will have “a full and speedy recovery” and that its investigation is ongoing.
On Wednesday, the NFL said it welcomed the investigation into Sunday’s handling of this incident. On a conference call with reporters, Jeff Miller, the league’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, said that “everything indicates” the league’s protocols were being followed.
The Dolphins listed Tagovailoa as “questionable” in the team’s injury report ahead of Thursday’s game with a “back/ankle” problem.
After Tagovailoa’s departure from a second game, the league’s confidence in their concussion records could be called into question again.
His injury in a prime-time NFL game followed that of Bills cornerback Dane Jackson, who was also carted off the field during a Monday night game on Sept. 19 after accidentally colliding with teammate Tremaine Edmunds. The blow made Jackson’s head and neck snap back. He was released from Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo the following day after being cleared by a CT scan.
“It brings us back to the reality of the violence of the game and I hope it gives people some perspective,” said veteran cornerback Richard Sherman, a commentator for Amazon, which televised the game Thursday. “These are people and they have families and they have a future and they risk everything to entertain people.”