Now is the time that it is easy to assign blame to the Miami Dolphins, head coach Mike McDaniel, the training staff, and Tua Tagovailoa for what happened on Thursday night.
Many coaches, NFL fans, current and former NFL players were upset about the situation. Justifiably so. Yet it is also important to remember that many athletes will try to play down certain symptoms in order to play cause from day one it is important to get labeled as “tough.” NFL teams are more likely to care about the end result on the field as well. Which means situations like that of Tagovailoa are more likely to occur than most other sports.
How that ends is a different story. At the moment what needs to happen with Tagovailoa is that his season is ended. It is likely his second concussion in less than a week. The hit he took last night, seemingly showed him posturing which is a lot more concerning. The first concussion showed him having balance issues after getting up.
Even though Tagovailoa got released from the hospital in Cincinnati hours later and was able to fly back with his Dolphins teammates. If he is serious about having a long and successful NFL career, he needs to get placed on injured reserve (IR) for the remainder of the season.
McDaniel was blatantly out of line when he was discussing the injury. He actually said it was “nothing more serious” than a concussion. What he really meant to say was that Tagovailoa did not suffer a spinal injury.
Many people in and outside of the NFL know that concussions are serious. At this point for Tagovailoa he needs to get placed on injured reserve (IR) for the remainder of the season with no questions asked.