NFL CMO Dr. Allen Sills: Tua Tagovailoa showed 'nothing that would have triggered' concussion protocol during game vs. Packers

 

NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said Tuesday that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa exhibited zero injury behaviors and reported zero symptoms...during Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers.

I would like to hear from the NFLPA. Still, I trust Dr. Sills. But. There was a drastic change in Tagovailoa's game play after the blow to the head. Michael Williams, the Twitter spotter, noticed the blow before anyone else it appears and his opinion was confirmed for him by Tagovailoa's play in the second half. As I, and others more NFL-wise than I noted, Tagovailoa's play on the interceptions was so bad it would have been bad if it occurred in a college game. So I understand what Sills is saying: Tagovailoa didn't "fence", he didn't wobble, and I thought initially that Michael Williams' connection of the blow to the int's was a stretch. But I misunderstood that the blow happened at the end of the first half; I misread Willaims' tweet as having occurred in the first quarter. I have two questions: Did Sills' spotters see the blow in real time? Second, is the abrupt change in play not "injury behavior"? I assume without knowing that the answer to #2 is "No." If the answer is "No" then, in Sills' opinion, were the int's unconnected with the blow?

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel announced Monday that Tagovailoa had been placed in the league's concussion protocol after reporting symptoms that day. McDaniel added that it was uncertain at this point if Tagovailoa had indeed suffered a concussion, but he had exhibited symptoms to warrant placement in the protocol.

Fine, I'll be a lawyer: There is a difference between reporting and exhibiting.

"What our spotters and our unaffiliated neuro doctors are looking for is any blow that transmits force to the head or neck area, followed by that injury behavior...there are many blows to the head that occur during a game. We are always looking for the blow plus the injury behavior and obviously if we see any injury behavior, then there's a call down made to evaluate that player. Also, if a player identifies any symptoms or a teammate, coach, official, anyone else identifies symptoms, that also initiates a protocol. So many people can initiate the protocol and in this game on Sunday, none of those factors were present. There were no visible signs present, even though there was a blow to the head and the player did not report any symptoms, despite being in contact with the medical staff throughout the game. So, there was nothing that would have triggered the protocol in the moment."

Sills added that it is not uncommon for people to present symptoms on a delayed basis, and that Tagovailoa should be commended for reporting his symptoms on Monday.

So the horrendous 4th quarter throws could reasonably be delayed presentation of symptoms?