Tua Tagovailoa stretchered off the field following big hit on Thursday Night Football

Tua Tagovailoa has exited the Miami Dolphins’ Thursday Night Football matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on a stretcher. Tagovailoa landed hard on a sack by Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou before getting attended to by training staff.

The injury is deemed to be to the head and neck area, per the Miami Dolphins.

Al Michaels said on the TNF broadcast that the finger contortions are a result of “neurological response to head trauma.” Sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung updated Tagovailoa’s condition several minutes after the incident, noting that the Miami QB was conscious after leaving the field.

He was then taken to the University of Cincinnati’s medical center, which is a Level I trauma center.

Tagovailoa completed 8-of-14 passes for 110 yards and threw one interception in the first quarter and a half of action. Teddy Bridgewater has since taken over for Tagovailoa after the former Alabama star was wheeled off the field.

Update from Hartung:

“The Dolphins tell us that Tua Tagovailoa is conscious, he has movement and feeling in all of his extremities,” Hartung said. “Just speaking with Mike McDaniel, he said it was a scary moment, but Tua was conscious. He was talking to him. He said when he got out of his line of vision, Tua was asking for him because he was curious what happened on that play. His parents are now headed to meet him at the hospital, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.”

“Mike McDaniel told me,’ this is why you sign a guy like Teddy Bridgewater during free agency,” Hartung continued. “He is the calming influence of his team, he knows how to conduct himself in this situation. He’s been there. He’s been through his own scary injuries. McDaniel said the best thing you can do now is get a win for Tua, because that’s what he wants.”