A lot of attention has been placed on Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the scary head injury he sustained in their Week 4 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night — and rightfully so. The young quarterback looked like he had a seizure on the field, and both the Dolphins and the NFL have received a lot of backlash over their decision to let Tua suit up for the TNF matchup in the first place.
Tagovailoa suffered what many believed to be some sort of concussion in Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills. However, the league's top medical officer has now made it abundantly clear that the NFL took all the necessary precautions with regard to Tua's suspected injury from the previous week (via league insider Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network)
Speaking with @judybattista on @nflnetwork, NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills says Tua Tagovailoa was checked for concussion symptoms every day since Sunday. Points out independent neuro expert had to clear him. Once review is done, full results will be released publicly.
According to Sills, Tua Tagovailoa did not suffer a concussion from Week 3. He also seems to be implying here that his injury the following week had no relation to the knock he suffered previously.
Does this mean that the Dolphins and the league are now in the clear here? What you can say for sure is that changes will be made with regard to the NFL's concussion protocols. The league has already made a joint announcement with the NFLPA to address this exact issue with the objective of avoiding another incident similar to that of Tagovailoa.