Tua Tagovailoa expected to be interviewed as part of NFL-NFLPA investigation into QB’s quick return from injury, sources say

Toa Tagoviloa An interview is expected early this week in the joint NFL and NFL Players Association investigation into the Miami Dolphins quarterback’s quick return to last weekend’s game against the Buffalo Bills, Adam Shifter of ESPN.

The League and Players Association noted on Saturday that their review is ongoing while adding that they agree that “modifications to the concussion protocol are necessary to enhance player safety.”

A league official told Shifter that the investigation is expected to last another week or two, with results to be announced “almost immediately thereafter.”

Sources told Shifter that Tagovailoa is expected to return to the Dolphin facility on Monday, where he continues to follow concussion protocol after a head injury that forced him to leave Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Images of Tagovailoa’s brain are sent to three independent doctors to get as many opinions as possible about his condition.

Tagoviloa initially appeared to show symptoms of a concussion after hitting his head late in the first half of Miami’s week 3 home game against Buffalo, but was cleared by the team doctor and unaffiliated trauma consultant to return in the second half. Tagoviloa and the team later said his legs were wobbly due to a back injury.

After Thursday’s injury, in which the 6-foot-3, 340-pound Bengals enters defensively Josh Topo Hitting Tagovailoa backwards in the grass, the quarterback’s hands froze and fingers awkwardly bent in front of his face mask for several seconds as he lay on the ground in Cincinnati. He remained on the ground for several minutes until he was carried on a stretcher and taken to hospital. He was released from the hospital and returned home with the dolphins hours later.

It is not known if there is any association between the infections. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Friday that Tagovailoa will be out indefinitely.

The NFLPA fired an unaffiliated neurotrauma advisor Saturday, saying in a joint statement with the league that they “expect to make changes to the protocol in the coming days based on what has been learned so far in the review process.” Sources told ESPN that the shooting came after it emerged that the counselor had made “several mistakes” in his assessment of Tagovailoa.

There are three non-affiliated trauma consultants in each game; They are paid jointly by the league and the players’ union to work with the team’s doctors to diagnose a concussion. Both the NFLPA and the league have the right to launch UNC without the consent of the other party.

McDaniel defended the Dolphins’ handling of Tagovailoa’s injury against the Bills, when he received a kick from the linebacker. Matt Milan He seemed to be knocking his head on the grass. McDaniel reiterated Friday that Tagovailoa was cleared by several layers of medical professionals during that match and said the third-year quarterback had not suffered a head injury, which is why he did not participate in the concussion protocol before Thursday’s game.

Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.