After Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa appeared to suffer multiple hits to the head in the span of five days, the NFL made changes to their concussion protocol.
Then, against the New York Jets in Week 5, Dolphins backup Teddy Bridgewater suffered a hard hit on the first play of the game, and despite not having a concussion, he was removed from the game and placed in the protocol.
Bridgewater was cleared prior to this Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings and was thrust into action when Skylar Thompson suffered a thumb injury.
After the Week 6 game, Bridgewater was able to speak to the media for the first time and was asked if the new rules affected him after taking hits in the contest.
“Man, your pop-up game, got to be elite,” Bridgewater said. “You get hit, you’ve got to pop right up these days. I’ve always been a guy who takes his time getting up, mad that I might have gotten hit, slapped the ground frustrated, and then okay, next play. But can’t do that anymore. Today I was just popping up just so it wouldn’t happen to me again.”
The NFL’s changes focus on a player’s instability when getting up. While the league is trying to protect themselves and their players from more situations like Tagovailoa’s, many players want to stay on the field and are trying to find ways to do so, including making sure they pop back up.
