CONCUSSION PROTOCOL FACING CRITICISM AFTER TAGOVAILOA HIT
Rules demand evaluation, not sidelining, when a player is unsteady after an impact
Critics and skeptics may well be right, that Tua Tagovailoa was concussed. Sure looked like it.
This, after he got up wobbly and repeatedly shook his head, as if to “clear out the cobwebs,” as we used to say, from that late hit he took a couple minutes before the end of the first half of the Miami Dolphins' 21-19 win Sunday over the Buffalo Bills.
The back of the Miami QB'S helmet slammed hard to the Hard Rock Stadium turf on the hit, and snapped back up.
Impactful trauma to the back of one's head is a prime cause of concussions.
Tagovailoa was immediately removed from play and aided by medical staff into the Dolphins locker-room for a concussion evaluation, which the club confirmed in an in-game tweet and press-box announcement.
But — to the instant shock and outrage of millions on social media — the 24-year-old not only returned to his sideline in uniform following halftime, but played the rest of the game.
Tagovailoa arguably was even more effective, going 5-for-8 passing for 110 yards, compared to 8-for-10 for only 76 yards before halftime.
Speculation and accusations since halftime of the game accuse the Dolphins of breaking NFL concussion protocols by not immediately ruling out Tagovailoa the moment he wobbled and fell to the field.
Like it or not, it is untrue.
The specific element of the NFL'S concussion protocol introduced in 2018 regarding wobbly players is unchanged, per the league. That is, that any player “demonstrating gross motor instability (e.g., stumbling or falling to the ground when trying to stand)” must be evaluated
“to determine the cause of the instability.”
It is not an automatic “no-go” sign, as many reports have claimed. It is, rather, an instant trigger for a concussion examination to be administered.
Whether you believe the sincerity and veracity of the testing and examination conducted by medical personal on Tagovailoa, the QB confirmed he was examined and tested for a concussion in the locker-room, passed those tests, and was cleared.
Tagovailoa claimed his wobbling was due entirely to back muscle spasms he was suffering after “hyperextending” his back on a first-half quarterback sneak, which he said the hard hit in question late in the second quarter exacerbated.
What do NFL locker-room concussion examinations and tests involve?
Per league protocols, a club's team doctor as well as that team's assigned, red cap-wearing unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant (a) discuss with the player how the injury occurred; (b) conduct a neck examination; (c) conduct a “thorough” neurological examination of the player's major cranial nerves, motor and sensory systems; (d) conduct a gait assessment; and (e) conduct a cognitive assessment of immediate and delayed recall, as well as concentration.
Look, if you believe the NFL should strengthen rules to immediately sideline for the rest of the game any player who wobbles — as Tagovailoa did — whether he passes locker-room concussion tests or not, that would seem the safest approach.
Or is it?
Consider: If the NFL were to mandate the instant yanking of any player from a game — for the wobbling reason such as Tagovailoa's or, say, whenever a player is hit hard in the head — then you might well be making the game more dangerous.
Because head hits then could become incentivized, as I have been pointing out now for nearly seven years.
So, are the best, safest rules already in place then? Maybe.
The crucial question, now and for years to come, may well boil down to this: Is there any way to ensure that all NFL medical personnel are earnestly conducting locker-room concussion tests, and always sidelining a concussed player every time he fails?
Answer: No.