Tua Tagovailoa injury update: Miami Dolphins QB out vs Bengals

The Miami Dolphins hosted the Cincinnati Bengals to begin week 4 of the NFL season. However, the first half didn’t go as planned for Miami or star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa who left in the second quarter on a stretcher. This comes on the heels of controversy in week 3 when Tagovailoa was slow to get up. Miami declared it a back injury but many NFL fans and media didn’t buy the reasoning.

Tua Tagovailoa is out of Thursday’s game against Cincinnati with head and neck injuries.

This was NOT a back injury at all and it was blatant lying. There should be an investigation into the Dolphins medical staff as well Tua should not have played tonight pic.twitter.com/n4qQTn5GBF

— sam hubbard enthusiast (vince) (@qsmartreviewer) September 30, 2022

Many believe Tua shouldn’t have even played on Thursday against the Bengals. It’s clear that Miami and the NFL didn’t handle last week’s situation right last week. There’s a clear concussion protocol in place and that was not followed last week, which is why the player’s association launch an almost immediate investigation into the matter.

In this week’s game, Tua was taken off the field on a stretcher after being hit by the Bengals defender. His hands showed a clear neurological response to the contact after the play. The team announced Tua has a head and neck injury and was taken to the local Cincinnati hospital. He is conscious and can move his extremities.

Tua Tagovailoa has been taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. He is conscious and has movement in all his extremities.

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 30, 2022

Clearly, he won’t return to the game, but it brings up a variety of other questions and issues that need to be addressed by the league.

First, why was he ever cleared to play again during the week 3 game? Why did he never go through proper concussion protocol?

Secondly, the player’s association needs to keep pressing for answers. Someone dropped the ball and clearly screwed up. It was tough to see Tua react the way he did on the field. Player safety wasn’t put first and it sadly lead to further injury by Tua tonight. At the end of the day, the medical staff should have the final say on who plays and who doesn’t; someone didn’t do their job in week 3 and it showed tonight in Cincy.

One thing is for sure, many prayers for Tua are happening tonight as he spends the night at the hospital. Hopefully, Tua doesn’t face any serious health issues moving forward, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be suiting up for a game anytime soon.