The doctor who cleared Tua Tagovailoa to return to play last Sunday has been fired after a review found he made “several mistakes,” according to ESPN.
An unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant, the doctor let Tagovailoa return to last week’s upset win over the Bills despite exhibiting symptoms of a concussion.
After taking a heavy hit, the quarterback shook his head, stumbled, and almost fell to the turf as he jogged down the field. The team said it was a back injury, and Tagovailoa returned to the game. He played again on Thursday Night Football and suffered a severe concussion in Cincinnati, where he needed to be stretchered off the field and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Watching from their couches, a couple Patriots players opined that Tagovailoa shouldn’t have been playing on Thursday night. Linebacker Matthew Judon tweeted:
“It was no reason that man should of been in the game. SMH. Protect yourself because some people only see you as a football player.”
His teammate, safety Adrian Phillips, concurred and tweeted:
“Dude should not have been playing tonight.”
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel got emotional talking about Thursday’s concussion after the fact.
“I have 100 percent conviction in our process regarding our players,” McDaniel said. “This is a player-friendly organization, and I make it very clear from the onset that my job here is for the players. I take that very seriously. No one in the building strays from that. … If there would have been anything lingering with his head, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I prematurely put someone out there and put them in harm’s way.
“This is a relationship that I have with this human being. I take that serious. I wouldn’t have put him out there if there was any inclination given to me whatsoever that he was endangering himself from that previous game.”
Chris Mason, masslive.com