Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa was injured horribly. The NFL deserves our outrage

With the NFL season well underway, the Miami Dolphins are actually off to a solid start. While it’s still too early to tell much of anything, 3-1 isn’t too shabby for the tortured SoFlo franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in 22 years. And while that’s great for Dolphins fans, it can only matter so much right now, because there’s a far bigger issue concerning their team.

Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, suffered what many think to be his second concussion in five days on Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, that might not have been a fiery topic for discussion in the 90s, or even 2000s, in contact sports like football or ice hockey. However, things have changed a lot in the past two decades, with not only our culture’s attitude but the findings and scientific progress we’ve made regarding injuries, especially those to the head.

It wasn’t until 2009 that the NFL instated its first concussion protocols, in an effort to protect players who received blows to the head. Up until that point, as long as a player remained conscious they were allowed to return to play. The protocol has remained consistent in that players are not able to return to play until they can demonstrate they are exhibiting no symptoms of a concussion. These symptoms include things like slurred speech, impaired motor skills, or bouts of amnesia. If the team physician and independent neurotrauma specialist on-site have reason to believe the player has suffered a concussion, they are then subject to a series of protocols that are aimed at helping the player rehabilitate fully before returning to the field. These steps include rest, exercise, non-contact drills, and finally full clearance from a neurotrauma specialist. There is no set timeframe for when a player will return, but it often can take upwards of two weeks.

So you’re probably thinking: Well, how was Tua Tagovaoila back on the field to suffer a second concussion in just five days? That’s where this gets hairy. According to the Miami Dolphins’ medical staff, Tua suffered a back injury the first time around, whlle playing against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, hence why he was cleared to return to the game and play against Cincinnati on Thursday.

Video of the hit is alarming, to say the least. In it, Tua’s hands clutch up and together directly after impact, like he’s having a seizure or displaying a classic sign of brain injury called the “fencing response”. Several medical doctors, including concussion activist Chris Nowinski, are outraged at the Dolphins’ ruling of a non-concussion Sunday. Nowinski even warned how damning a second concussion would be for the young quarterback on Thursday, just hours before it seemingly came to fruition.

There’s a non-zero chance that Tua’s hit in the Buffalo game was indeed only a back injury. Miami’s head coach Mike McDaniel was very explicit in saying that there were no signs of concussion during that game when asked, saying “If he had a head issue, he wouldn’t have been back out there.” But when you watch the video, and you see his hands seize up, it’s easy to see why one would think it’s a concussion, regardless of what the team thinks.

Of course, Tua Tagovailoa is an adult and can make his own decisions. If he really didn’t want to play, he could have walked away. But we shouldn’t overestimate the player’s agency in these instances. They get paid the big bucks to play, and if the team thinks they should play, they will play.

What will the NFL and Players Association do to quell the controversies surrounding head injuries in their game? How can they make sure that not a single concussion slips through the cracks? Perhaps only time will tell, but what we witnessed this week in Miami was a sobering reminder. Concussion protocols in sports are important, and maybe for once the outrage online is warranted. Hopefully, the NFL and Miami Dolphins can provide more insight into exactly how Sunday’s incident was ruled a “back injury”, because a simple PR answer from the coach clearly isn’t cutting it. Spectators and pundits want more transparency, and maybe in this instance, they deserve it.