Tua Tagovailoa is on monitor to take a seat out the Dolphins’ pivotal Week 17 rematch with the Patriots, working to clear concussion protocol for the second time this season. So why did not the quarterback exit final Sunday’s loss to the Packers, during which he sustained the onerous hit that presumably led to a different head harm? The motive is twofold, based on Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer: Tagovailoa did not show any fast signs, and he did not report any to workforce docs.
“What our spotters and our unaffiliated neuro docs are on the lookout for is any blow that transmits pressure to the pinnacle or neck space, adopted by that harm habits,” Sills advised NFL Media’s Judy Battista this week. “There are many blows to the pinnacle that happen throughout a recreation. We are at all times on the lookout for the blow plus the harm habits, and clearly if we see any harm habits, then there is a name down made to judge that participant.
“Also, if a participant identifies any signs or a teammate, coach, official, anybody else identifies signs,” Sills continued, “that additionally initiates a protocol. So many individuals can provoke the protocol and on this recreation on Sunday, none of these elements had been current. There had been no seen indicators current, although there was a blow to the pinnacle and the participant didn’t report any signs, regardless of being involved with the medical employees all through the sport. So, there was nothing that might have triggered the protocol within the second.”
Tagovailoa, who was hospitalized earlier this season for an extra head harm, performed Sunday’s whole recreation, throwing three second-half interceptions in a 26-20 defeat, regardless of his head slamming to the bottom on a second-quarter hit. The QB reported concussion signs to the workforce a day later, requiring a return to protocol, which have to be cleared earlier than a return to recreation motion. It’s not unusual for gamers to report signs on a delayed foundation, Sills added.
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Is it doable the NFL’s protocol isn’t enough, given Tagovailoa already had a historical past of head trauma getting into Sunday’s recreation? Sills left the door open for extra modifications and enhancements to the protocol, but in addition prompt gamers are in the end a part of the decision-making course of relating to risking additional harm.
“In any case of this nature, the workforce goes to behave in a really conservative method,” Sills mentioned. “They’re going to collect all the information. They’re going to verify the athlete goes via all of these steps. Sometimes they’re going to even search outdoors opinions about that. And then they’re going to do what we do day by day in drugs, which is that they’ll sit down with the athlete, they usually’ll clarify to him the scenario and permit that athlete to have a voice in that decision-making. Because on the finish of the day, our protocol is to make it possible for the athlete seems to be recovered, however we nonetheless with right now’s expertise cannot actually estimate that danger of future harm. And so what now we have to do is make certain the athlete is totally recovered after which make it possible for their voice and their autonomy is revered on this decision-making course of.”
