Tua Tagovailoa Breaks Silence After Suffering Head and Neck Injury During Thursday Night Football

Tua Tagovailoa is speaking out after suffering a head and neck injury during Thursday Night Football. The Miami Dolphins quarterback went to Twitter to say thank you to everyone that was supporting him since the injury. He went on to say that his goal now is to do everything he can to get back on the field. 

"I want to thank everyone for all of their prayers and support since the game last night." the Dolphins star quarterback said in the statement. "It was difficult to not be able to finish the game and be there with my teammates, but I am grateful for the support and care I've received from the Dolphins, my friends and family, and all the people who have reached out. I'm feeling much better and focused on recovering so I can get back out on the field with my teammates."

The Dolphins took on the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, and Tagovailoa was slammed to the ground in the second quarter. He was in a fencing response as his arms were outstretched while contorting his fingers. The 24-year-old quarterback was on the ground for nearly 10 minutes before a stretcher was brought out to take him to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The injury comes four days removed from Tagovailoa leaving Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills before returning to help the team win. He was evaluated for a concussion at halftime after hitting his head on the turn and stumbling back to the huddle. After initially announcing Tagovailoa suffered a head injury, the Dolphins said he injured his back. 

"That's why the NFL has these protocols, and there's not like every single NFL game that is played," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said on Thursday, per NFL.com. "There's an independent specialist that specializes in specialty brain matter, so for me, as long as I'm coaching here, I'm not going to fudge that whole situation. If there's any sort of inclination that somebody has a concussion, they go into concussion protocol; it's very strict. People don't vary or stray; we don't mess with that, we never have as long as I've been head coach, so it'd never be an issue that you guys have to worry about." Tagovailoa will not play in the Dolphins' next game, which is against the New York Jets on Oct. 9. It's unclear if he will play again this season.