Mike McDaniel encouraged Tua Tagovailoa to see doctor after Monday film review – NBC Sports

As it turns out, it’s wasn’t a member of the medical or training staff that spotted concussion symptoms in Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. And it wasn’t Tua who self-reported the situation.
Coach Mike McDaniel told reporters on Wednesday, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, that McDaniel realized something was amiss during a Monday film-review session.
McDaniel said that he had “questions about consistency of things I study daily on tape” regarding Tua. McDaniel questioned Tua about those things. McDaniel then encouraged Tua to go see a doctor, who placed Tua in the concussion protocol.
This is part of what the joint NFL-NFLPA review will examine — when and how the symptoms were spotted. And why they weren’t spotted sooner. And why no one bothered to take a look at Tua based on the fact that his head struck the ground during the second quarter of the game.
Kudos to McDaniel for caring enough about the player to notice the situation and to act on it. But it’s fair to wonder whether others failed in their obligations to Tua by not noticing that there was a reason to evaluate him for a concussion.
Calling BS on this narrative of Tua’s concussion
It isn’t always easy but I think we are ate a point where those involved need to overreact. The sad side note is that Tau is dangerously close having to call it a career.
There are clearly many things still wrong with the concussion protocol. But if this is true, we’ve at least made a big step that a coach is so proactively looking out for their player, rather than 20 years ago when they’d tell a guy to just play through it. Kudos.
The NFL already puts dozens of sensors on the players and balls for entertainment purposes. Maybe they should start putting g-force sensors in the players’ helmets that alerts the spotter when someone takes a big hit to the head.
Tua is going to have long term, life changing effects if he doesn’t take care of himself. He’s shown a lot more promise this year but his health has to come first.
He might have to take the same path as Roger Staubach and just retire.
Yea that is a good PR story for the Fins. Not sure I believe it though.
McDaniel needs to stop goofing around, put aside his “Heh I’m the Cool Coach” mentality and actually LOOK AFTER his quarterback.
As for Tua, sit out the rest of the year and look after yourself, man.
One thing that hasn’t been discussed is what if his concussions become chronic and his recovery times start to increase. Lots of players get their helmet struck with force during a game and don’t get a concussionn. He may be more susceptible and unfortunately he might see early retirement as a result.
The challenge with this is, athletes are trained to play with pain. Tua was never going to pull himself out of the game. There is a spotter whose only role is to observe these plays and pull players, when appropriate. Nothing happened there. And depending on how serious the symptoms were, Tua could have ignored them or thought they were something else.
This isn’t going to be a perfect process. However, with concussions there is an increased susceptibility the more of them you have. That could have a role in this too.
Kudos to McDaniel? He was live and in person on the sideline. He calls the plays into Tua. And it took him until he watched film on Monday to realize “something was amiss”? Sounds rather lame and disconnected to me.
The reality is Tua is trying to get his 5th year option picked up much less a long term deal. He’s teetering on being out of the NFL untouchable because of his concussion history. He’s not going to admit anything because he’s afraid he’ll become radioactive. The team isn’t going say anything from the sidelines because their hopes for a playoff birth hinge on him and they would rather look the other way and hope it’s not true. McDaniel got the the first critical look at it and he had to to say something for the benefit of Tua and for his own future in the NFL. Harsh reality is Tua is probably finished long term. Too much of a risk financially and from a public relations standpoint. Easier and cheaper to move ion.
This Buffalo Bills guy wishes Tua the best. Love to see this kid with a long & great career. he is a very respected competitor and an engaging personality. But watching those three picks vs GB was telling that he just wasn’t right. I hope the Phins let this kid heal up til next season, and hope that developing helmets to protect these players that are susceptible to concussions is a high priority for the NFL.
Tua the victim in all of this.
Nice way to ease Tua out to make room for Brady.
He should be encouraging him to retire at this point, because that’s 3 KNOWN concussions within a few months, and there’s enough medical evidence at this point that says he’s going to have long term effects from these repetitive brain injuries. Whatever though, because at this point I’m blaming Tua, and nobody else, for his inability to recognize the fact he needs to sit, and allow his brain the time it needs to heal
Tua RETIRE. DONT be the first NFL person to die on field. Or off after playing a game.
Like three bad picks in the fourth quarter? If you evaluated every player who hit their head on the turf, the game would be over in Q1.
But it’s fair to wonder whether others failed in their obligations to Tua by not noticing
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You know who really failed to notice or say anything ? Tua.
Those “independent” concussion evaluators need to be audited to see how independent they really are or if they’re receiving some extra payments on the side. They clearly aren’t doing their job and or has already been fired. They also need their credentials checked
Good job coach.
Prize fighters have a term: punch drunk. It often doesn’t show up until the day after. Having had my bell rung before, I didn’t think it was a big deal until a day or two later. And the medical personnel in my home (Mom was an ER RN) didn’t see the symptoms until later either.
Tua is becoming a danger to himself it seems
Nice try.
You and Goodell worked to try to fool people earlier this year, so none of this posturing now can change that. It’s too late.
It’s disgusting what Ross/Grier and McDaniel have done here. They quite possibly have ruined his life in the near future.
It was never a “back injury”.
I like Mike McDaniel more and more each day.
All you neurologists badmouthing McDaniel…stick it in your ear.
Funny how these details change with each day’s stories.
They are Not superbowl ready this year. Let the young man heal, starting today, til next Summer. This is getting to a very dangerous tipping point for Tua’s longterm health. If not already passed sadly.
This is confirmation and proof that players don’t and won’t self-report their own injuries.
Left to their own devices, players will stumble around, stagger, and walk into traffic before they tell someone that they think something is wrong.
Meanwhile, the spotters are making pizza and beer runs to the concession stand while a player’s skull gets bounced on the turf.
The decision to make those throws were so bad that McDaniel knew something was wrong. Every TV analyst was saying the same thing in regards to the decision to even attempt some of the throws he made.
A player, DT, OT, RB, or QB, often hit their heads on the turf.
Hopefully Tua Tagovailoa will see the bigger picture.
Everybody is always looking for someone to blame. They can`t automatically pull every player who has their head hit. It`s not easy for spotters to see all 22 heads on every play. They are clearly trying 10 times harder to catch these things than they did before but it will never be perfect.
Football is a dangerous sport. There are a lot of dangerous jobs that aren`t on TV for everyone to see and talk about but some people have to do them. They choose to do them just like NFL players do.
How many policeman are killed every year? Are we supposed to stop having police because it`s too dangerous for them? It`s never going to be perfect and some players are more susceptible than others. They have every right and maybe even responsibility to quit. How many concussions happen in soccer (way more than football) but nobody says anything because it`s not considered a dangerous sport. It`s just life. You do the best you can and deal with the consequences as they arise.
There’s no possible way you’ll make me believe his team cares about him. That’s been disproven numerous times this season.
Dolphins org completely lacks integrity over the last few seasons. This is a different story than McDaniels gave the other day. McDaniels is in total CYA mode because his approach to Tua for this year is now obvious – use him, abuse him, lose him, sign Brady in the offseason. His unassuming nerd act is a farce.
Sure he did….what a nice guy
Credit to McDaniels.
Stand up guy.
Love this guy. So far…..
They put him back in during that Sept. Buffalo game when he never should have been seen again. Then he’s back in 4 days later and gets clocked again. Miami and the NFL fail to do ANYTHING ! Obviously,they don’t care.
Again with the armchair neurologist slamming McDaniels for not catching Tua’s concussion in real-time – you sound like a bunch of clowns because guaranteed you’ve never been on an NFL sideline and witness a Head Coach or any Coach attempt to monitor EVERY player on EVERY play! Even the replay Officials up in the booth didn’t see Tua hit his head or the sidelines folks & most if not all saw it later after the game!! I’m not even a Fish fan and I’m tired of hearing you Bozo’s chirp about this nonsense! Your the same bunch that were hoping my Bills would shut down Allen for some severe phantom shoulder injury because once again you didn’t know what you were talking about!
Mcdaniels continues to get a pass for his gross negligence.
Mike’s handling of the first Tua condition is why he’s having to now look all concerned at the third time in a season. Fire McDaniel – he is a threat to his players.
Said it in the last article. Concussions don’t always show their signs immediately. In nascar, Alex Bowman hit the wall and got a concussion. He finished the race then sat out the next month. So now not only do we need cameras and spotters for each individual player on every play of the game, we now need spotters to hold players hands all week? If you’re going to place the blame game, place it on Tua for hiding and not reporting symptoms.
Again, the dolphins never had issues managing the concussion protocol before McDaniel got there.
Well if the Fins lock up a playoff spot this weekend then I’d say rest Tua until the playoffs. I’d take a rusty Tua over Bridgewater any day of the week.
Tua knows he has been playing poorly, and he might find the concussion protocol an easier explanation than the alternative: defenses have figured out Tua’s/McDaniels’ scheme. They have taken away the middle of the field, and Tua lacks the arm to consistently hit sideline routes to burners like Waddle and Hill. So he is holding the ball too long. It sux to be a one trick pony, and McDaniels needs to bench Tua till they figure things out.
steppinginpilesofrexryan says:
December 28, 2022 at 3:00 pm
Again with the armchair neurologist slamming McDaniels for not catching Tua’s concussion in real-time – you sound like a bunch of clowns because guaranteed you’ve never been on an NFL sideline and witness a Head Coach or any Coach attempt to monitor EVERY player on EVERY play! Even the replay Officials up in the booth didn’t see Tua hit his head or the sidelines folks & most if not all saw it later after the game!! I’m not even a Fish fan and I’m tired of hearing you Bozo’s chirp about this nonsense! Your the same bunch that were hoping my Bills would shut down Allen for some severe phantom shoulder injury because once again you didn’t know what you were talking about!
Pretty much the most spot on comment on here. McDaniel is the head coach, he has 52 other players to worry about. He is not just watching Tua on every play. He is watching the O-line, receivers run routes, and backs block from the sideline. Which is basically the worst place to watch a football game from a coaching point of view. When a player gets hurt, the training staff tends to the player on the field, takes them to sideline, then possibly to the locker room for further evaluation. The medical staff then reports to the head coach if that player is able to return. The head coach is not a doctor, he has to go by what his medical people tell him, as well as the independent doctors in attendance. Literally this is how every NFL and college team operates, not that difficult to understand.
You have to be a pretty kind of special to think Goodell conspired with McDaniel about tua to cheat the 7 and 8 pats.
I call BS and PFT is buying into obvious spin from McDaniel’s camp.
Can someone list all the other NFL players that have 2 or more concussions this year? Especially if you want to pretend to care for Tua by encouraging him to retire because of his concussions this season.
Lets see it…..
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