By: JJ G
Tua Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphin’s starting quarterback took two subsequent hits in the head in recent games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills.
Tagovailoa left the field in a stretcher after getting hit hard on the head when he played the Bengals. Tua Tagovailoa was hit so hard that he laid on the field in a contorted way associated with a brain injury.
Mike McDaniel, a coach for the Dolphins minimized Tagovailoa’s injury by saying, that “he didn’t have anything more serious than a concussion.”
The N.F.L. is taking the concussion problem more seriously now because former players also got hurt. Nowinski, a neuroscientist, said. “It’s pretty high on the list of serious medical consequences of football.”
When Tua got hit in the game before, against the Buffalo Bills, he returned after 30 minutes which made former players mad. “Truth be told Tua should probably never have been playing,” said Emmanuel Acho, a former linebacker.
Under N.F. L’s protocol, players showing instability after a hit they must be evaluated by both the team doctor and a neurologist to see if they can return or not. The league has seen that the concussions are going down. In 2015 there were 275 concussions. In 2021 there were 187.
Aside from the concussion protocol, the N.F.L. has tried to say head injuries with better helmets and rules and a marketing campaign de-emphasize head hits.