U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), who serves as the leader on the NFL’s brain injury task force, wants answers following Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa being stretchered off the field with head and neck injuries during Miami’s 27–15 loss to the Bengals on Thursday.
Tagovailoa exited during the second quarter after he was slung to the ground by Bengals defensive lineman Josh Tupou. During the tackle, Tagovailoa’s head hit the ground, and his fingers were curled as he laid on the ground.
His departure from Thursday’s game comes only four days after he was briefly removed from Miami’s game against the Bills on Sunday with what appeared to be a head injury. However, he returned for the second half of action after the team stated that he cleared concussion protocol.
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However, following Thursday’s injury and a frenzy of reaction, Pascrell issued a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross on Friday demanding answers as to why Tagovailoa was playing in the Thursday’s game.
“As head of Congress’s Brain Injury Task Force, I want to know how the hell he was on the field last night,” Pascrell tweeted.
In the letter, Pascrell wrote that the “facts around the second injury” to Tagovailoa were “painful to recount.” “I pray and hope that the Dolphins and NFL officials did not disregard Mr. Tagovailoa’s safety to rush him back into action,” the letter read.
Pascrell also shared that the NFL has “many questions” to answer about Tagovailoa, including why he was allowed to playe in Thursday’s game after suffering an injury, a list of and what measures were taken to protect his safety between his injury in Buffalo and his concussion in Cincinnati, why Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel reported Tagovailoa’s injury as a back injury, as well as McDaniel’s understanding of how the league views a concussion and whether the league will cooperate with the NFLPA’s investigation into the team’s handling of Tagovailoa.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Tagovailoa spent the week listed as questionable on the team’s injury list with a back injury. However, he was officially made available to play only 90 minutes before kickoff of the Thursday night game.
But in the postgame news conference, McDaniel confirmed that the 24-year-old had not suffered a concussion against the Bills and strongly advocated for the league’s rules in place for concussion protocols.
“Yeah, otherwise, we would’ve reported him having a head injury. That’s why the NFL has these protocols,” McDaniel said Thursday, via Will Manso of WPLG Local 10 News. “There’s an independent specialist that specializes in the specialty of brain matter so, for me, as long as I’m coaching here, I’m not gonna fudge that whole situation. If there’s any sort of inclination that someone has a concussion, they go into concussion protocol that’s very strict.”
Tagovailoa was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and the Dolphins noted that he was conscious and had movement in all his extremities. He was later discharged from the hospital on Thursday night and traveled back with the team.
While he remains on concussion protocol, Tagovailoa released a statement Friday, saying that he was “grateful for the support and care” he received from the Dolphins, his friends, family and people who reached out. He also shared that he is “feeling much better” and focused on recovering to get back on the field with his teammates.
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