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NFL: Concussion handling questioned after Tua’s injury


The NFL’s handling of concussions has evolved significantly since the days when players were given smelling salt on the bench and sent back to the game.

The NFL and NFL Players Association have implemented extensive protocols and hired unaffiliated neuromuscular (UNC) consultants to work with team doctors at each game to diagnose concussions. motion.

However, football is a violent sport, and injuries similar to the dreaded game that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered on Thursday night seem inevitable unless the NFL issues an injunction. manage and turn the game into rugby like it was for the Pro Bowl.

That doesn’t happen, and the most effective means of protecting players remains to enforce strict concussion protocols, which players, fans and others fear has not happened with Tagovailoa.

It would be difficult to stop what happened to Tagovailoa when Josh Tupou’s 6-foot 3,340-pound defensive tackle sent him to the ground. The main question is why he even played just four days after he tripped and was unable to walk after a blow to the head during a home game against Buffalo.

Tagovailoa’s hands went stiff and fingers clumsily folded in front of the mask for a few seconds while lying on the grass in Cincinnati, a terrifying sight witnessed by millions of viewers. He lay on the ground for several minutes until he was carried away on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

This time – unlike Sunday when he appeared to have symptoms of a concussion but was cleared by the team doctor and UNC to return – Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion. He was discharged from the hospital and flown home with the team. The many hours of flying after the concussion raised questions, but the NFL’s medical director Dr. Allen Sills said the hospital made that decision.

Tagovailoa’s quick return Sunday prompted a joint NFL and NFLPA review. The interview process has begun and results are not expected for at least another week. Tagovailoa and the team explained that his leg was wobbly because of a back injury.

It is unclear whether there is a correlation between the two incidents. Concussions are common in the NFL, especially when a player is thrown to the ground by the size of a Tupou man and his head hits the pitch.

Sills said it was “impossible to know” whether the injury Tagovailoa sustained on Thursday was aggravated by the blow he received on Sunday.

“That’s one of the factors that we wanted to look at,” Sills said on the NFL Network. “Every injury is the one we want to prevent.”

Chris Nowinski, a founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation who played football at Harvard, is adamant Tagovailoa was concussion against Buffalo and should not have played at Cincinnati.

Nowinski told the Associated Press: “Taa has five distinct signs of concussion. “Anyone who is concussion-trained or cares about Tua as a human isn’t taking him out four days after what he showed on Sunday, so this is made worse by because we know that this could end a career or a season- End. In my opinion it has to be a season over. And it just shows a lack of interest in him as a man. “

The League and NFLPA established concussion protocols in 2011 when Colt McCoy took a helmet-to-helmet hit during a game and returned without concussion testing. The protocol has been expanded since then.

There are three UNCs, which are jointly paid by the NFL and NFLPA per game. They work with team doctors to diagnose whether a player has a concussion. Independently certified athletic coaches (ATC spotters) sit in a booth and supervise players on the field to remove someone from the game if they see an impact on the head. Team coaches, coaches or doctors, teammates, game officials, UNC sideline, or booth ATC can also initiate the protocol.

All players who undergo any concussion assessment on match day must have a follow-up evaluation by a medical officer the following day. Sills said Tagovailoa was assessed daily before the game, even though he was not in concussion protocol.

Some players talked about the passing protocol even when they were concussion. Andrew Whitworth, the Rams’ former offensive manager, said on an Amazon broadcast he once experienced a concussion during a game until a teammate realized he wasn’t right and reported. for doctors.

The federation has been testing other methods to minimize head injuries. This year, for the first time, offensive laners, defenders, finishers and right-backs wear Helmets – a soft, padded hat over their helmets – during practice from at the beginning of the training camp until the second. pre-season game.

The league said the average number of tremors among those position groups fell from 23 in the previous three-year period to 11 this summer. Of those 11 concussions, six were caused by blows to the mask, with no additional protection.

Tagovailoa is under pressure in terms of performances this season and has dealt with injuries in the past, so it’s only natural that he wants to play regardless of the injury. Former players criticized the decision to let him play on Sunday saying they wanted to protect the players from themselves.

NFLPA President JC Tretter wrote on Twitter: “We are all outraged by what we have seen in the past few days and fear for the safety of one of our brothers.” “What people saw both Sunday and last night were “no go” symptoms in our concussion protocols. The protocols exist to protect players and that’s why that’s why. We have started an investigation Our job as the NFLPA is to take all possible measures to get the Event down and hold those responsible. We need to find out how. and why the decisions were made last Sunday to allow a player with “can’t walk” symptoms to return to the field.

“Until we have an objective and validated method of diagnosing brain injury, we must do everything we can, including modifying protocols, to further reduce the likelihood of error.” The failure of the medical assessment is a failure of protocols when it comes to the well-being of our players.We have come a long way over the last 15 years but last week proved we have a lot more to offer. how far to go.”

The decision to allow Tagovailoa to return on Sunday was made by the team doctor and UNC. It was determined that Tagovailoa’s instability was caused by a back injury. The Joint Evaluation League and NFLPA will review the steps taken and a report will be issued.

“Based on everyone I’ve talked to and I know a lot of doctors, brain injury people and sports medicine people, I don’t know of anyone who thinks it’s a sound drug based on observation alone. what was seen on the field and Attorney Brad Sohn, who has represented hundreds of players in the concussion lawsuit and is one of the likely successors to NFLPA chief executive DeMaurice Smith, said.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said there has never been a time when the team doctor and UNC disagreed about a concussion.

In 2017, Seattle was fined $100,000 and coaches and paramedics were required to participate in corrective training on the protocol after a joint review determined the team did not follow the procedure when Russell Wilson was directed on the sidelines for a post-referee assessment. , Walt Anderson, concluded that a medical examination was warranted.

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