Tua Tagovailoa: Will Dolphins QB Play Again This Season After Scary Head Injury?

By Brian Jones

The injury Tua Tagovailoa suffered against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 29 was something that led to the NFL and NFL Players Association coming together and making changes to how they evaluated concussions. And while the Miami Dolphins quarterback suffered only a concussion, how he went down has some people asking will play football again this year.

The Dolphins announced this week that Tagovailoa will not play on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. However, the Alabama alum did return to the practice field for football activities for the first time in two weeks. Tagovailoa has been cleared by multiple neurologists to resume limited football activities. 

"In these situations, you are relying on all medical advice and what people can do and what we've been told is he can go out and throw and do some individual work this week," McDaniel told reporters on Wednesday, per ESPN. "So that's exciting for everybody just because, you know, really we just miss his personality. He's a guy that we rely on that, not to mention all of his play and all that stuff. "Now, when talking about this week and playing, I don't see a scenario — I don't see him being active. I do not plan to have him play at all."

Tagovailoa could clear concussion protocol soon. But even if that happens, the Dolphins may not be in a rush to get him back on the field. "He hasn't done a thing on the football field for literally two weeks," McDaniel said. "So, I don't think that that would be fair to the player. That wouldn't be fair to the team ... I don't feel comfortable putting him in that situation."

The Dolphins and the NFL took some heat for playing Tagovailoa in the Bengals game after he suffered an apparent head injury in a game four days before against the Buffalo Bills. The Dolphins said Tagovailoa suffered a back injury and he was cleared to finish the game. This led the NFLPA to look at the league's concussion protocol and exercised its right to fire the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant (UNC) who performed the first concussion evaluation. 

Before the injury, Tagovailoa was on his way to having the best season of his young career. The 24-year-old has completed 70% of his passes and thrown for 1,035 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions in nearly four games.

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