Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took a hard hit on Thursday night that shook the NFL to its core, and the fallout of the concussion he sustained was part of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay’s comments to the media on Saturday. When asked about his take on the situation, which has been the subject of much consternation around the league since the incident took place, he gave a lengthy response in which he emphasized his players’ humanity over their utility on his football team.
“I think the biggest thing is that it’s about the person before the player,” McVay explained. “And some of these things, when you realize this game is so important to so many of us, and when you’re in the midst and in the moment of it, you think that this is just going to be forever, but you realize this is a small blip in time. There’s so many things to life with family, with friends, with the people that love and support you and care about you unconditionally, and I think it’s our job as coaches and really in general to look out for the person one, the player next. And these are things that [I] certainly don’t take lightly.
“I know that I’m not the expert in that arena, but I also defer to those guys and I think being able to have relationships where you’re able to kind of understand where they’re coming from and then you can almost take the decision out of their hands because these guys are such competitors and there’s an element of, ‘I don’t want to let people down.’ And you got to be able to help them realize you’re not letting anybody down. This is a small blip, we’re going to be smart with this. This game has brought so many blessings, but you have to be able to draw the line in terms of, ‘Alright, what’s really the most important thing in the big picture?’ And certainly safety always is that at a premium for us.”
Discussion around concussion protocol and the precautions teams must take to keep their players’ health as a top priority will continue well into the season as the NFL comes to grips with what seems to be a brewing crisis. This is a keystone issue surrounding the game of football as it is played today, and the league is likely to continue monitoring its teams closely as they seek to prove that their action around concussions and player safety have some bite to back up their bark in recent years.
McVay’s comments carry some extra weight given that two Rams, cornerback Derion Kendrick and guard David Edwards were listed as concussed on Los Angeles’ injury report this week. Kendrick made a speedy recovery and has been a full participant in the team’s last two practices, while Edwards is listed as out for the Rams’ Monday night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
