Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
CINCINNATI — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was taken to a local hospital with head and neck injuries suffered on a second-quarter ejection in Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Tagovailoa hit the back of his head on the ground when he was sacked by Bengals nose tackle Josh Tupou, and his hands appeared to seize up almost immediately. He remained on the field for about 10 minutes before being loaded onto a stretcher and taken away. The Dolphins said shortly before halftime that he was conscious and had movement in all of his limbs at the hospital, University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The entire Dolphins line gathered around midfield as he took off.
In Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa underwent concussion evaluations at halftime after hitting his head on the ground and then tripping while trying to return to the huddle. The team initially listed him as questionable to return with a head injury, but later said it was a back injury that caused him to stumble. Tagovailoa said later in the week that he passed every evaluation he received before finally returning to the game. The NFL Players Association called for a review of the NFL’s concussion protocols after Tagovailoa’s quick return to the game. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday that the health of his players is something he doesn’t take lightly, that the team would comply with any review or investigation and that he felt “good” about the whole process. “The one thing that I think our players know more than anybody is there are certain things that I’m very sensitive about. I’ve been called emotional at times and one of those things is the health of the players,” McDaniel said. “So I’m not into that at all. … They took the protocols and that process during the game, and it was something that we wouldn’t have gone in the direction that we did if there were any kind of red flags because that’s — it’s not you can keep quarterbacks out of harm’s way so you don’t — if he had a head problem, he wouldn’t have gone back out there.” Teddy Bridgewater entered Thursday’s game in place of Tagovailoa. The Dolphins also had rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson active for the first time in his career.
