Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa announces concussion protocol

The final hurdle has been overcome. Tua Tagovailoa is in the starting lineup the Miami Dolphins when they face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8.

Head coach Mike McDaniel said before practice Friday that Tagovailoa cleared the concussion protocol after going through two practices this week without any issues.

Those were the final steps Tagovailoa had to take in the Return to Play Protocol established by the NFL.

Tua followed the NFL’s five-step Return to Participation Protocol, which included an examination and clearance by an independent neurological consultant.

After training on Thursday, Tua was examined by the independent neurological consultant and cleared to play in the match against Arizona.

While going through the Return to Participation Protocol, Tagovailoa received care from top medical experts from across the country. Those experts spoke candidly with Tagovailoa about his history and, according to McDaniel, no doctor recommended he retire.

Tua’s decision to return to play after medical clearance was one he made together with his doctors and his family.

The final step for the Dolphins will be to move him to the 53-man roster, a move that should happen Saturday, after which the team will make another move to make room for him. The other one will likely involve another quarterback, whether it’s placing Tyler Huntley on injured reserve with the shoulder injury he suffered in the Week 7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts or releasing veteran Tim Boyle.

Tagovailoa has missed the past four games due to his concussion in the Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills, his third diagnosed concussion in the past three seasons.

The Dolphins have finished 1-3 in Tagovailoa’s absence, beating the New England Patriots but losing to the Seattle, Tennessee, Titans and Indianapolis. with the help of three other quarterbacks.

This was the longest absence during the season for Tagovailoa, who missed three consecutive games in 2021 and then two in 2022.

In his two starts this season, Tagovailoa completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 483 yards with two touchdowns, three interceptions and a 78.9 passer rating. He had a 300-yard game in the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, when he completed 80 yards to Tyreek Hill and 63 yards to Jaylen Waddle.

McDaniel’s announcement came after he declined to say last week when Tagovailoa would return to practice and did so again after the 16-10 loss to the Colts, saying he wanted to focus on the players participating in the game .

“Everything is the same,” McDaniel said before practice Friday. “There have been no negative experiences. Everything has been positive every day. And you are right when I say that I am focused on the Indianapolis Colts, who we play in 48 hours.”

McDaniel made his most definitive statement on Tua earlier this week, when he expected his quarterback to play again in the 2024 season. after his third diagnosed concussion in the Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Combined with the fact that McDaniel has given nothing but positive updates since Tagovailoa was injured and the quarterback joined his teammates on road trips to Seattle and New England, it was easy to connect the dots and suggest that Tagovailoa’s return would be immediate if he was eligible to get out of IR.

McDaniel made it clear last week that he had no intention of second-guessing the decision to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve, which would sideline him for at least four games.

“So when you have a timeline, like that week, you have to make a decision, you wait as long as you can, and then that decision is made by medical experts and then, combined with the communication of the entire team and of course Tua , yes, if medical experts in a timeline that is not ideal for anyone, say, would be the best with the information they had at the time, I am happy with it X (result),” McDaniel said. ‘Because the idea is that people, especially when it comes to having expertise, don’t ask the doctors for advice, and so I’m not going to replace a middle class where…as if that wouldn’t be very smart.

“So once that’s established, if you make that decision that’s based on the information and supported, driven by medical experts, you can easily; there’s no more second-guessing or even evaluating what we do, well or shouldn’t do.” We should have done that, because of the medical expertise. And so you take the time to use that time, and I think Tua did a great job of making something out of a situation that’s clearly not ideal. You can’t choose what you experience, but you can choose how you deal with things.”

McDaniel said of Tua, “And he’s been incredibly diligent. He’s been a leader while he’s been doing it, and the right thing for the Dolphins regarding medical matters regarding players is certainly based on the medical expertise.”