Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The Miami Dolphins are expected to get Tua Tagovailoa back from a concussion in time for next week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tagovailoa has cleared concussion protocol after being evaluated by his own doctors, Miami’s medical staff and four outside opinions.
According to Schefter, the Dolphins quarterback was “unanimously cleared” by all the medical evaluators to return. He will be inactive for Sunday’s contest against the Minnesota Vikings but is in line to start on Oct. 23 against the Steelers.
Tagovailoa hasn’t played since being knocked out of Miami’s Week 4 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 29 after the back of his head slammed into the ground following a hit from defensive tackle Josh Tupou.
After being loaded onto a stretcher and taken to a local hospital for evaluation, Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion and was given no timetable to return. He traveled back to Miami with the team following the game.
The concussion came four days after Tagovailoa was allowed to return to the Dolphins’ game against the Buffalo Bills. He initially appeared to suffer a head injury after Bills linebacker Matt Milano shoved him to the ground.
Tagovailoa initially got to his feet but appeared wobbly and fell to his knee for a moment. Teddy Bridgewater then came into the game to finish the first half as Miami’s quarterback.
The Dolphins initially announced Tagovailoa was questionable to return with a head injury, but he came back for the start of the second half to finish the game.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported after the Dolphins beat Buffalo that Tagovailoa tweaked his back in the first quarter and it locked up on him following the hit from Milano. He was fully cleared after going into concussion protocol and allowed to return.
The NFL Players Association called for an investigation into the handling of Tagovailoa’s concussion check, and the league and NFLPA agreed to modify concussion protocols following the completion of the investigation.
The specific change to the protocol is the addition of the diagnosis of ataxia to the mandatory “no-go” symptoms used to determine if a player is allowed to re-enter a game.
According to the May Clinic, ataxia refers to “poor muscle control that causes clumsy voluntary movements” and may cause difficulty with balance, walking, hand coordination, speech and eye movements.
Bridgewater, who suffered a concussion in last week’s loss to the New York Jets, has cleared protocol and will serve as Skylar Thompson’s backup on Sunday, per Schefter.
Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to a 3-0 start in his first three games this season. He has thrown for 1,035 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions in four starts.
The post Report: Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa Expected to Return From Concussion vs. Steelers appeared first on Tampa Daily Journal.
from Tampa Daily Journal https://ift.tt/yJ40S73
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment