NFL players will be under new concussion rules in time for Sunday's games. The league and NFL Players Association on Saturday agreed to modify the rules following a joint investigation into an injury sustained by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa last month. The league and players' union said in a joint statement that the Dolphins followed the league's concussion protocol after the injury, but the outcome of the Tagovailoa case “was not what was intended when the Protocol was drafted.” As a result, language addressing abnormality of balance/stability was added to the list of symptoms that would keep a player from returning to action, per the AP.
In the first half of a Sept. 25 game against Buffalo, Tagovailoa took a hit that caused him to slam to the ground. He appeared disoriented afterward and stumbled as he tried to get to his feet. Tagovailoa was immediately taken to the locker room and taken through the NFL’s concussion protocol, after which he was cleared of any head injury. He started the third quarter, drawing criticism from viewers about why he was allowed to return to the game. The NFL and NFLPA said they reviewed video and jointly interviewed members of the Dolphins’ medical staff, the head athletic trainer, the Booth ATC Spotter, the "Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant," and Tagovailoa.
They found that Tagovailoa did not show any signs or symptoms of a concussion during his locker room exam, during the rest of the game, or throughout the following week. But immediately after he took the hit, gross motor instability was present. After the game, Tagovailoa and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said the quarterback had suffered a back injury that caused those mobility problems. As a result of the joint investigation, the league and union agreed to change the league’s protocol to include the term “ataxia.” In the statement, they defined ataxia as “abnormality of balance/stability, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech caused by a neurological issue.” The league did not explicitly state that the quarterback sustained a concussion in the Buffalo game.
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Ataxia replaced the term “gross motor instability” and has been added to the list of symptoms that would prohibit a player from returning to the game. The others are confusion, amnesia, and loss of consciousness. Less than a week after the injury, Tagovailoa started against the Cincinnati Bengals in a Thursday night game. He suffered a concussion in the first half after taking a hard sack, was stretchered off the field, and taken to the hospital. He remains in the concussion protocol and will miss Sunday’s game against the Jets.
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