On Friday, neuroscientist Chris Nowinski issued his latest statements regarding the head and neck injury of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained in Thursday’s Week 4 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, vocalizing his strong disdain for the NFL, Miami Dolphins and all those involved in clearing the third-year veteran prior to kick off.
Tagovailoa, who was noticeably uneasy in Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills when struggling to walk, was cleared to take the field against the Bengals just days after. However, Tagovailoa displayed a much greater health concern after being brought to the ground in the second quarter. The 24-year-old laid on the ground, unable to get up without the assistance of medical officials who placed Tagovailoa on a stretcher and carted him off the field to be hospitalized for further evaluation.
Doctors from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center discharged Tagovailoa and allowed him to fly back with the team, which the Dolphins announced following their 27-15 loss.
Nevertheless, Nowinski, co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, believes Tagovailoa should reevaluate his trust in the Dolphins organization — going as far as to advise that the quarterback doesn’t take the field again this season. Nowinski continues to question both the league and the Dolphins organization’s ability to display the proper level of transparency when entrusted to handle these delicate matters.
“If I’m Tua, I’m not going back this season, beacuse God forbid you have three concussions in 12 weeks,” Nowinski said, accoriding to Insider’s Tyler Lauletta. “That just doesn’t happen anymore in modern medical society.”
Nowinski added: “Now we have to wait and watch if the Dolphins will finally admit that it was a concussion last week. Because if they tried to lie again and put him back in, we’re basically going to watch and just hope he doesn’t die. You’re going to be pretty sure you’re going to be taking off years off the end of his career, or at least impair his performance going forward.”
Prior to Thursday’s game against the Bengals, which evidently served as the second consecutive concerning sight regarding Tagovailoa’s health, Nowinski foretold the risk(s) of Miami’s starting quarterback taking the field — something which the concussion expert took zero joy in predicting on Twitter.
“These guys have been around the game forever,” Nowinski said. “They’ve had themselves. There was nothing surprising about his concussion Sunday. And the fact that owners let him roll out, considering he is the future of the franchise, that he can’t just miss one game early in the season to let his brain recover, just shows a lack of caring for him as a human being.”
On Friday, the National Football League Players Association reportedly fired the independent medical official who was responsible for clearing Tagovailoa’s return to the Bills game just days before his gruesome injury against the Bengals.
Nowinski delivered an overall different tone than that of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel during his postgame press conference when addressing the terrifying injury.
McDaniel, a first-year head coach of the Dolphins, stood by his decision to play Tagovailoa. A choice which was quickly followed by an abundance of scrutiny from those both currently and formerly playing in the NFL.
“That’s a serious injury. Tua shouldn’t have been out there with Sunday Thursday turn around. Sometimes players need protecting from themselves. Dolphins failed Tua,” Pro Football Hall of Famer and current FOX Sports co-host Shannon Sharpe tweeted.
On Saturday, the NFL and NFLPA released a statement regarding the situation — acknowledging the concerns regarding the league’s current concussion protocol.
