Tua Tagovailoa will return to Miami Dolphins training for the first time on Wednesday since suffering the brutal concussion against the Cincinnati Bengals, although he'll be in limited practice for the time being.
The Dolphins quarterback has been in the wars, with the franchise at the centre of a huge storm as fears of Tagovailoa's safety have been raised. Tagovailoa appeared to suffer a concussion against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago, but was cleared to play against the Bengals, when he was then stretchered from the field.
Tagovailoa was obviously not fit to feature against the New York Jets on Sunday, and sat out while the Dolphins were battered 40-17. With the quarterback returning to training, there is an outside chance that he could be ready for Sunday's clash with the Minnesota Vikings, but head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters that he is not expected to play.
The quarterback is expected to feature in limited practice for the Dolphins on Wednesday, and is expected to throw in the sessions while he continues the NFL concussion protocols. And although unlikely to make it in time for the Vikings clash, he could very well be cleared officially to play by then.
Tagovailoa has reportedly seen four top specialists as he completes his comeback from concussion, and is working his way back to fitness. Though that is a major boost to the Dolphins, who are still holding on to a positive record, Tagovailoa's situation has been alarming for multiple health professionals.
Year by year we are finding more out about the impacts of concussions later on in life from combat sports, with most top neurologists all calling for immediate action to be taken by leagues such as the NFL. One top specialist, Dr Bennet Omalu, has even called for Tagovailoa to retire at the age of 24 as a result of his worrying head injuries.
Dr Omalu, the first doctor to discover and publish findings on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American Football players, called for the Dolphins star to walk away from the sport. Speaking to TMZ Sports, he said: "If you love your life, if you love your family, you love your kids -- if you have kids -- it's time to gallantly walk away. Go find something else to do."
Although Tagovailoa suffered a bad concussion, the outrage is more centred around the fact he was even on the field in the first place, as he appeared to still be struggling from the previous game. Chris Nowinski, a former college football player, professional wrestler and founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, was particularly furious about this when speaking to The Associated Press.
"Tua showed five distinct signs of concussion," Nowinski said. "Anybody who has any training on concussions or cares about Tua as a human is not putting him on field four days after what he showed on Sunday, so this makes it so much worse because we know that this could be career-ending or season-ending.
"It should be season-ending, in my opinion. And it just shows just a lack of care for him as a human being."
And the NFLPA responded to this, as president JC Tretter tweeted: “We are all outraged by what we have seen the last several days and scared for the safety of one of our brothers. What everyone saw both Sunday and last night were ‘no-go’ symptoms within our concussion protocols.
"Our job as the NFLPA is to take every possible measure to get the facts and hold those responsible accountable. We need to figure out how and why the decisions were made last Sunday to allow a player with a ‘no-go’ symptom back on the field."
