The NFL Players Association released a statement on Friday regarding the league's concussion protocol after agreeing to changes and is asking the NFL to implement these changes before this weekend's games.
"Our union has agreed to change the concussion protocols to protect players from returning to play in the case of any similar incident to what we saw on September 25," the NFLPA Board and Executive Committee said in a statement. "We would like these changes to go into effect before this weekend's games to immediately protect the players and hope the NFL accepts the changes before then as well."
The announcement comes after a review over how Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's concussion evaluation was handled in a Week 3 victory against the Bills.
The Sept. 25 incident the union is referring to is when Tagovailoa appeared to suffer a head injury after being pushed to the ground against the Buffalo Bills. He was unstable when he got up and left the field to be evaluated for a concussion. It was first reported that he had a head injury, but following the game Tagovailoa and the Dolphins said he had sustained a back injury which caused his unstable gait.
Fans, players, media and others across the NFL world were concerned that the situation was not handled properly, due to how Tagovailoa looked getting up and an investigation was conducted into the situation.
"As we have discussed with the NFLPA, we agree that changes to the joint NFL-NFLPA protocols are necessary to further enhance player safety,'' the NFL said in a statement on Friday. "'We have already spoken to members of the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee and the leadership of the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultants and Independent Certified Athletic Trainers who serve as spotters to discuss these likely changes."
Four days after the Bills game, Tagovailoa suffered injuries to his head and neck that resulted in him being carted off in a stretcher against the Bengals, raising more concerns over how his situation was previously handled. Tagovailoa is currently in concussion protocol and has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Jets.
Last weekend, the NFLPA exercised its right to terminate the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant who was involved in the handling of Tagovailoa's injury against the Bills. Hours later, the NFL and NFLPA released a joint statement indicating that the league's concussion protocol will be changed in the wake of the controversy surrounding the handling of Tagovailoa's injuries.
