Tua Tagovailoa may not have enough time to get through the concussion protocol in time for the Dolphins Wild Card game vs the Buffalo Bills.
The Miami Dolphins just squeezed into the NFL playoff picture and forced a rematch with their AFC East rival, the Buffalo Bills.
Miami beat Buffalo early in the season at home and lost on the road. Home-field advantage is a significant factor, but so is a healthy quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa has been out due to concussion protocol since Week 16. He evidently sustained a concussion in that game that wasn’t discovered until the following day by Mike McDaniel during film review.
Fans are curious to know if he’ll go, as he’s a game-changing quarterback that, if healthy, could impact this came in a major way.
Tua Tagovailoa needs to jump through multiple levels of concussion protocol
The concussion protocol is staged so that players are not rushed back to play. It is designed so players can’t jump through multiple stages of the five-step process at a time, which does not bode well for Tagovailoa’s ability to play in the Wild Card game.
Cameron Wolfe surmised based on McDaniel’s comments that he’s probably in stage 2 or 3 of 5:
This would mean Tua still needs to participate in full contact practice drills before being cleared. It’s possible, if he’s in stage 3, that he can advance this week. If he’s still in stage 2, it’s much less likely.
The Bills and Dolphins play on Sunday.
Starting Tua Tagovailoa may be in Dolphins best interest, but not his
Local reporter Barry Jackson reported just how carefully the medical team is taking things with Tagovailoa:
Evidently, the medical staff has advised the team to not even broach subjects such as when he’ll play again over fear that the stress will cause another setback.
With that in mind, it feels unlikely a complete tone shift in how they’ve treated the injury would occur in a few days’ time.
Tagovailoa has had multiple concussions this year, one particularly scary one in Cincinnati that had him sent to the hospital. At this point, fans want him to be healthy more than anything else.