Teddy Bridgewater will return to action for the Dolphins. After indicating Tua Tagovailoa‘s latest stay in concussion protocol was indeed induced by a concussion, Mike McDaniel said Bridgewater is in line to start against the Patriots in Week 17.
This will be Bridgewater’s second start this season. The journeyman passer left his first outing after landing in concussion protocol. This is Tagovailoa’s second confirmed concussion this season, though concussion-like symptoms in Week 3 ignited a controversy and led to the NFL firing an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant and changing its protocols.
Although Tagovailoa head injuries have been one of this season’s defining storylines, the Dolphins are not yet planning to shut down their starter. McDaniel said this will be a day-by-day process. That makes sense when considering the disparity between the team’s record in games Tagovailoa finishes (8-4) and in games featuring Bridgewater or Skylar Thompson (0-3). The Dolphins have lost four straight and have plummeted to the AFC’s No. 7 seed. Tagovailoa being ready to go in Week 18 could determine Miami’s playoff fate, but the team will also need to factor in the former No. 5 overall pick’s long-term health ahead of that decision.
Tagovailoa missed two games because of the concussion he suffered in Week 4. That scary scene in Cincinnati came four days after the seminal sequence against Buffalo, when Tua returned to play shortly after showing concussion-like symptoms. The NFL has since revised its concussion protocol, leading to more attention given to players who show symptoms of head injuries. That said, spotters did not notice Tagovailoa displaying any concussion signs during Miami’s loss to Green Bay on Christmas Day. Tagovailoa also did not report any symptoms; he was placed in the protocol Monday.
The NFL and NFLPA are also moving forward with a joint review into the circumstances behind Tua’s most recent concussion, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports (on Twitter). This will be the second NFLPA probe into a Tagovailoa injury this year. A video that circulated on Twitter showed a possible concussion-inducing hit taking place in the first half. Tua did not leave Sunday’s game, and this inquiry will once again scrutinize the Dolphins and independent spotters’ handling of a head injury. The last inquiry did not find any violations, but changes nevertheless occurred.
Tagovailoa’s three-interception half in Week 16 did not knock him off his perch as the NFL’s leader in passer rating. The third-year QB still sits fourth in QBR as well. Miami’s Tyreek Hill–Jaylen Waddle pairing has helped Tagovailoa to an 8.9 yards-per-attempt figure. That also leads the league. Going from Tagovailoa to Bridgewater will be a step back for the Dolphins — in a crucial spot.
Bridgewater, who suffered two concussions during his 2021 season in Denver, displayed signs of ataxia when taken out of his Week 5 start against the Jets. The 30-year-old QB navigated concussion protocol ahead of Week 6, when he replaced Thompson against the Vikings. Both Bridgewater and Tagovailoa cleared concussion protocol that week, but the Dolphins made Bridgewater their emergency backup over Tua. This season, Bridgewater has completed 37 of 60 passes for 522 yards to go along with three touchdown passes and three interceptions. He led the Broncos to a 7-7 mark last season, without the benefit of the defense this year’s Denver iteration has deployed, before a Week 14 concussion ended his time with the team. Sunday will be Bridgewater’s first start against the Patriots.
FiveThirtyEight gives the Dolphins a 62% chance to make the playoffs, but Tagovailoa missing both games would stand to reduce the team’s chances of booking a postseason spot for the first time in six years. Tagovailoa also becomes extension-eligible next month, and the head injuries he has suffered this season cloud the progress he has made.
this won’t change until the players take some responsibility. Tua did in this case but did he have symptoms Sunday or report only when feeling symptoms Monday? we may never know.
The PA needs to stress the importance to players to take care of themselves since teams won’t always do that.
Gonna have to scoop this guys brains out like applesauce I wonder how many more concussions he can take. Must see football.
Makes you really understand why players like Andrew Luck decide to leave when young and have their brain in tack! They made their money, time to move on to grad school!
This is a battle that the NFL and NFLPA will never win. The career windows for players are so small, many will do whatever it takes to stay on the field. Especially fringe players that, in perfect health, may not make see the game day field. There is no fix. It’s a violent sport. Ultimately players will have to agree not to sue for long term injury and assume the risk themselves.
This 100%.
The NFL and players union actually agreed on a settlement regarding veterans sueing for long term injury benefits back when the last CBA was negotiated. I don’t recall the exact dollar amount.
The Dolphins just like to be in trouble. First the Sean Payton stuff (which Payton isn’t worth a 7th rounder let alone losing a 1st) then 2 of these concussion issues. Crappy organization honestly. Horrible owner too.
Crappy comment.
Touché buddy. Yours took a ton of thought
The pendulum has swung back to me thinking Tua is not their QB next year. Too much baggage and increased scrutiny.
What’s their realistic alternative? They won’t have much cap flexibility, they won’t have a first rounder, and any free agent QBs will have just as much uncertainty, with the best ones costing more than Tua will.
Tom. It’s really not that hard to make the money work short term. Tua is worth at least a 3rd rounder to a lot of teams.
I’m sure Tua would return at least that (someone paid two 3rd rounders for the right to pay Carson Wentz three times as much for the year), but Brady comes with a fair bit of uncertainty and baggage himself, especially when you consider putting him in a new scheme (and/or undercutting the coach and his scheme) and how much his game declines when his offensive line isn’t strong.
I think before any of that happens. Before McDaniel tries to get him to play in week 17 or anything else, this young man (and new father) needs to do some soul searching. I know it’s hard for young guys to think about 20-30 years down the road, but I hope some responsible mentor has a heart to heart with him about the serious risk he’ll take if he continues to play.
I don’t disagree, but I think players sho make it all the way to the NFL are generally not wired to think and prioritize that way. Guys like Urschel and Borland are exceptions, and in Urschel’s case, he had no shortage of non-football options.
I certainly see how they’re wired that way. Especially if you have the God given talent to actually play at that level. There are just so many terrible stories of guys who had 8-10 years of glory and then early dimentia in their 50s. Every team has those stories. Hell, I don’t know. I just worry for the kid.
Does anyone still believe he didn’t suffer a concussion in the first Bills match? Several sports doctors suggest he carried that condition into the Cincinnati game and is now suffering from another. Miami’s medical staff and coaches are going to get him killed.
He did. Dolphins knew about it, and let him back in. Were going to do the same in the bengals game until someone called them out. Crappy team, poorly run dishonest organization that should be fined their second rounder as well.
Everyone who didn’t basically insist on cutting his actual brain in half to prove he was concussed because we aren’t doctors knew he was concussed, even though we aren’t doctors and didn’t need to cut his brain in half.
It’s going to be interesting to see the results of the investigation. After all the controversy earlier this season, I have a very hard time believing (while admitting is is possible) that the Dolphins would be so casual about the issue already. Adding to that the statement from Tua that he didn’t feel concussed and the lack of anything from the official spotters… I did a little quick googling (I plan to read more on it) and it seems there is such an animal as a delayed concussion. If that’s actually true, this might be a rare instance where nobody is lying, everyone did their job to the best of their ability with the available information, and nobody is really at fault.
It would also add another EXTREMELY scary component to concussions…
Goodell: “Even if the investigation is a farce we can always place the blame on a “toxic work environment”.
Tua is now vulnerable to concussion. Chronic concussion settles in after about substantial concussion four or five.
Concussion puts an end to many boxers careers. That’s why the champs who don’t get knocked out do much better as their careers advance. A few losses just about finishes a boxer, making him much more vulnerable to future knockouts. A cycle down.
Tua is in this cycle now and should quit football while he still has whatever brains fortune gave him to start.
I know he’s young and his career is just getting started yet it seems like he should maybe think about retiring before it’s too late and his brain becomes mush when he’s in his 40s or maybe even earlier. He’s made enough money to never have to work again if he doesn’t want to as long as he doesn’t do some dumb investment based in greed with it.
I guess someone close to him needs to ask him what is more important to him: playing pro football for X amount more years with the risk he becomes a vegetable before he’s even 30 or having a longer life or at least a life without a scrambled brain. If he says football then by all means, tell him to keep playing as that’s his choice. If he says a longer life and no scrambled brain then urge the guy to retire.
A shame to see this type of stuff happen to these guys.
Tua’s health is more important now, as – under these circumstances – even getting to the playoffs will be a very difficult accomplishment, and Bridgewater and Skylark are even worse than Brissett. Goodbye, Dolphins, until next year, hoping Tua gets really healthy for next season.