Report: Tua Tagovailoa to be inactive Week 6, expected to return Week 7 vs Steelers

Tua Tagovailoa will return to the Miami Dolphins starting lineup very soon, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

“Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa was cleared from concussion protocol today, per sources,” tweeted Schefter. “He will be inactive on Sunday vs. the Vikings, but he is expected to return for Week 7 vs. the Steelers.”

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Indisputably, it’s great news for the Dolphins that the former Alabama star is trending to be healthy enough to get back on the field come Week 7. Moreover, Schefter also added some color to just what the Miami star is going through at the moment, detailing the thorough process Tagovailoa is implementing to get back on the field.

“Since suffering a concussion in Week 4, Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins and his team of independent doctors followed a thorough process that far exceeded the NFL’s concussion protocol, per sources,” added Schefter. “He received four outside opinions, in addition to team doctors, who unanimously cleared him from protocol and agreed that his scans showed no signs of long-term impact to the brain.

“This is a best-case scenario for the QB who was off to an impressive start to the 2022 season and is expected to return to action next week.”

While Tua Tagovailoa put fear into the football world when he was originally injured, it’s obvious the Dolphins and the NFL are making sure he’s more than healthy to return to the starting lineup. Week 6 is out of the question, but it seems like Miami can expect their quarterback back for Week 7.

NFL says protocols were properly applied in Tua Tagovailoa concussion, announces modifications

Continuing, the NFL confirmed earlier this season that the Miami Dolphins followed league concussion protocols before deeming quarterback Tua Tagovailoa healthy to play in Week 4. However, it also announced that the protocols previously in place were said to be “insufficient” and have since been modified. 

In Week 3, Tagovailoa was tackled and hit both his head and back hard on the ground. He then grabbed his helmet, shook his head and took several steps forward before falling. 

Tagovailoa later returned to the game and told doctors that his back injury was what caused him to fall, according to the league announcement. The statement also says that Tagovailoa “did not report or exhibit any signs or symptoms of concussion during his locker room exam, during the remainder of the game, or throughout the following week.”

After running tests, doctors determined that Tagovailoa’s “Gross Motor Instability” was not neurologically caused, and came to the conclusion that his back injury was at fault. However, they never conducted a second examination of his back during the concussion examination, instead relying on earlier results. 

That led Tagovailoa to be cleared to play for a Thursday night matchup in Week 4, just four days after he suffered the initial injury. Unfortunately, he would go on to suffer another big hit and had to be stretchered off the field and taken to the hospital.

While the NFL and NFLPA agreed that the outcome “was not intended” and proper protocols were followed, they also determined those protocols were not enough to protect the player. That led them to make one key addition to the rule. 

The term “ataxia” has been added to the mandatory “no-go” symptoms for concussions. According to the league statement, “Ataxia is defined as abnormality of balance/stability, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech caused by a neurological issue.” Any player diagnosed with ataxia from this point on will not be permitted to return to the game. 

NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills weighed in on the decision in a Zoom call, saying this modification will hopefully prevent situations such as Tagovailoa’s from happening going forward. He also added that the overall goal of every medical staff member is player safety first and foremost. 

“Everyone involved sees a patient and not a player,” he said. “No one involved cares about the position of a player or the score of a game. The concussion protocol is not broken. It can always improve, that’s the nature of medicine.”