Critics and skeptics may well be right, that Tua Tagovailoa was concussed.
This, after he got up wobbly and repeatedly shook his head, as if to ‘clear out the cobwebs’ as we used to say, from that late hit he took a couple of minutes before the end of the first half of the Miami Dolphins’ 21-19 win Sunday over the Buffalo Bills.
The back of the Miami QB’s helmet slammed hard to the Hard Rock Stadium turf on the hit and snapped back up.
Impactful trauma to the back of one’s head is a prime cause of concussions.
Tagovailoa was immediately removed from play and aided by medical staff into the Dolphins locker room, for a concussion evaluation, which the club confirmed in an in-game tweet and press box announcement.
But — to the instant shock and outrage of millions on social media — the 24-year-old not only returned to his sideline in uniform following halftime, but played the rest of the game. Tagovailoa was arguably even more effective aerially, completing 5-of-8 for 110 yards, compared to 8-of-10 but for only 76 yards before halftime.
Speculation and accusations since halftime of the game contend the Dolphins broke NFL concussion protocols by not immediately ruling out Tagavailoa the moment he wobbled and fell to the field, seconds after jumping back up from the hit.
That is untrue.
The specific element of the NFL’s concussion protocol introduced in 2018 regarding wobbly players remains unchanged, per the league. That is, that any player “demonstrating gross motor instability (e.g., stumbling or falling to the ground when trying to stand)” must be evaluated “to determine the cause of the instability.”
It is not an automatic “no-go” sign, as many reports have claimed. It is, rather, an instant trigger for a concussion examination to be administered.
It’s only when “the team physician, in consultation with the sideline UNC (unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant), determines the instability to be neurologically caused” that “the player is designated a ‘No-Go’ and may not return to play.”
Whether or not you believe the sincerity and veracity of the testing and examination conducted by medical personnel on Tagovailoa — and let’s be clear, your skepticism may well be warranted, after all those decades of concussed NFLers being rushed back onto the field by team medical staff who effectively just rubbed some dirt on the concussed player’s forehead, etc. — the QB himself confirmed afterward that he was indeed examined and tested for a concussion in the locker room, but passed those tests, and was cleared.
Tagovailoa claimed his wobbling was due entirely to back muscle spasms he was suffering after “hyper-extending” his back on a first-half quarterback sneak, which he said the hard hit in question late in the second quarter exacerbated.
Miami head coach Mike McDaniel further corroborated that Monday, saying his QB is not in the concussion protocol but sure would be if medical assessments called for it.
What do those locker-room concussion examinations and tests involve? Per league protocols, the team doctor as well as the UNC (a) discuss with the player how the injury occurred; (b) conduct a neck examination; (c) conduct a “thorough” neurological examination of the player’s major cranial nerves, motor and sensory systems; (d) conduct a gait assessment; and (e) conduct a cognitive assessment of immediate and delayed recall, as well as concentration.
This is all in keeping with world sportdom’s latest best-practice concussion-diagnosis recommendations, as made by top global neurotrauma leaders.
An example of one of the recall tests, NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills told me several years ago, is asking the potentially concussed player to repeat backward various sets of three, single-digit numbers. So if he hears “6-7-3” he must say “3-7-6” to pass, and so on.
Look, if you believe the NFL should strengthen rules to immediately sideline for the rest of the game any player who wobbles — as Tagovailoa did — whether he passes locker-room concussion tests or not, that would seem to be the safest approach.
Or is it?
Consider: If the NFL were to mandate the instant yanking of any player from a game — for the wobbling reason such as Tagovailoa’s or, say, whenever a player is hit hard in the head — then you might well be making the game more dangerous.
Because head hits then could become incentivized, as I have been pointing out now for nearly seven years.
“Take a player out with a deliberate hit to the head — that’s the last thing you want,” former NFL rules committee czar Bill Polian told me in 2015. “You’d have a lot of players taken out of a game … You might well incentivize defensive players to do just that.”
So, are the best, safest rules already in place then? Maybe.
The crucial question, now and for years to come, may well boil down to this: Is there any way to ensure that all NFL medical personnel are earnestly conducting locker-room concussion examinations and tests, and always taking away a concussed player’s helmet for the rest of the game every time he fails?
Answer: No.
FIVE FAST FACTS
Josh Allen threw for 281 yards in the second half at Miami … Justin Fields has thrown for 297 yards on the season … Kyler Murray had 20 completions in the second half vs. the Rams … Justin Fields has 23 completions on the season … Las Vegas converted 1-of-12 third downs (8.3%) at Tennessee.
CHARGERS O-LINE VEXED
Los Angeles Chargers fans must believe their team is jinxed — particularly their team’s offensive line.
Seems no matter how good the players the club brings in, the front five is seemingly perennially hurt, or underperforming, or just vexed.
This year GM Tom Telesco seemed to finally have got it exactly right — with highly regarded second-year left tackle Rashawn Slater (Chargers draftee), second-year Chargers left guard Matt Feiler (vet from Pittsburgh), second-year Chargers centre Corey Linsley (vet from Green Bay), Round 1 rookie right guard Zion Johnson and fourth-year right tackle Trey Pipkins (Chargers draftee) all jelling and playing spectacularly as a unit through the first six quarters of this season.
The quintet did not surrender a single sack and only three pressures to Chandler Jones, Maxx Crosby and crew in the Week 1 win over Las Vegas. Four days later, at Kansas City, the unit again protected Justin Herbert spectacularly in the first half, allowing no sacks and only one QB pressure as Los Angeles led 10-7.
But by the middle of the third quarter, centre Linsley (foot) and right tackle Pipkins (knee) both were lost for the game. Thereafter Herbert was harassed practically on every dropback, officially sacked twice and pressured seven times, as the Chiefs rallied to win 27-24.
In Sunday’s 38-10 loss to Jacksonville, only Pipkins returned to play but LT Slater — probably the best lineman of the bunch — ruptured his left biceps tendon about midway through, per reports Monday, and probably is done for the season.
So now the Chargers are 1-2, having to once again reconstruct the O-line on the fly, with most of the season to go. This, as Herbert must slowly recover from fractured rib cartilage.
Jinxed team, man.
FINALLY! RIP, PRO BOWL
No one, especially all-star NFL players, will lament the death Monday of the NFL’s annual post-season all-star game, the Pro Bowl.
The league announced that in its place, it’ll hold a multi-day skills competition for ‘Pro Bowl’ participants and a flag football game, all in Las Vegas on the Sunday before the Super Bowl.
TAKING A KNEE
Two years ago this week I topped off this column by writing, “NFL scoring is out of control.”
So far this season it’s not only back under control, but slumbering. Indeed, as I’m sure you’ve sensed, scoring has plummeted so far in 2022.
Two years ago after 47 games — that is, heading into Monday night of Week 3 — teams were scoring at a record pace, each averaging 25.6 points per game, or a combined 51.2.
That’s nine combined points more per game than this season, as after 47 games teams in 2022 are averaging a combined 42.1, or 21.07 per team.
If this rate were to hold up until the season’s end, it would represent the lowest year for NFL scoring since 2006, when each team averaged 20.7 points per game. The record high came two years ago when, after that torrid start described above, teams wound up scoring 24.8 points per game.
To underscore how much scoring has dropped to exactly this point of the season, winning teams in 2020 scored 30-plus points a whopping 29 times. This season’s winners to date? Only 10 times.
We see the same discrepancy at the other end, among winners scoring less than 20 points — only three times to this point in 2020, but eight times already in 2022, including the most glaring example on Sunday night, when Denver beat San Francisco 11-10.
The scoring drop is not entirely due to the stark rise in the number of young, struggling QBs, either. Sunday’s marquee game between Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers was won by Green Bay, 14-12. And on Sunday Night Football, 11th-year QB Russell Wilson of the Broncos and ninth-year Jimmy Garoppolo of the Niners often looked like they were playing in their first NFL game.
With coming autumn winds and eventual early-winter snow sure to make weather an increasingly likely suppressant on scoring by the end of the regular season on Jan. 8, don’t be surprised if 2022 points-per-game averages drop even further.
Mac Jones has ‘severe’ high ankle sprain: Reports
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones reportedly suffered a severe high ankle sprain Sunday against Baltimore.
While Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Monday morning would not identify or categorize the severity of the second-year passer’s injury, reports later said the injury that caused Jones to grab for his left ankle in obvious pain, then hop off the field, is a high-grade high ankle sprain that is not expected to end his NFL season.
An MRI on Monday was intended to confirm doctors’ diagnosis and hopefully reveal the injury’s severity.
QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
All 32 starting QBs, after Sunday games, with last week’s rankings in brackets:
1. Josh Allen, Buffalo (1). Nearly overcame heat, injuries, etc.
2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City (2). First INT so costly.
3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay (3). Supreme first half, at least.
4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati (5). Give him time, and watch out.
5. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore (7). NFL-leading 10 TD passes.
6. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay (4). Backup WRs last 5 quarters.
7. Matthew Stafford, L.A. Rams (9). Needs more good WRs.
8. Justin Herbert, L.A. Chargers (6). OL banged up, him too.
9. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota (10). If he ever gets consistent …
10. Matt Ryan, Indianapolis (11). Delivers when it mattered.
11. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia (20). And this might be low.
12. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami (8). Fortunate to get the W.
13. Derek Carr, Las Vegas (12). Third downs: 35%. Yikes.
14. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville (22). Last 2: 77%, 5TD.
15. Kyler Murray, Arizona (14). Starting to feel so random.
16. Russell Wilson, Denver (13). What the heck’s going on?
17. Jared Goff, Detroit (18). I have him one rung below RW?!
18. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee (16). Best game in a while.
19. Joe Flacco, N.Y. Jets (17). Back to earth. Now to bench?
20. Baker Mayfield, Carolina (19). Longgg way to go still.
21. Mac Jones, New England (21). How long is he out?
22. Daniel Jones, N.Y. Giants (23). Played Monday night.
23. Jameis Winston, New Orleans (24). Awful early, again.
24. Jimmy Garoppolo, San Fran (15). Worst game as a pro.
25. Marcus Mariota, Atlanta (29). Full credit for W at Seattle.
26. Geno Smith, Seattle (27). Meh. Keeps ’em competitive.
27. Davis Mills, Houston (28). 58%, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, middlin’.
28. Jacoby Brissett, Cleveland (30). Run game some enabler.
29. Mitchell Trubisky, Pittsburgh (25). End of the line soon.
30. Carson Wentz, Washington (26). Hey, he is what he is.
31. Cooper Rush, Dallas (31). Played Monday night.
32. Justin Fields, Chicago (32). 23 completions in 3 games.
THIS WEEK
Quick thoughts on Week 4 games (all on Sunday unless noted):
• Dolphins at Bengals, Thursday, 8:15 ET: Last game of September could be one to remember. Is Miami still gassed?
• Vikings ‘at’ Saints in London, 9:30 ET: First game of the first quadruple-header of the season. Saints lucky to not be 0-3.
• Browns at Falcons, 1 ET: Mariota and the Falcons could improve to 2-2. Cleveland should be 3-0; 3-1 will have to do.
• Bills at Ravens, 1 ET: Epic showdown of dual-threat Patriots-destroying QBs, in Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson.
• Commanders at Cowboys, 1 ET: Mygawd, somebody tell Carson Wentz to duck. Micah Parsons is dang-well coming.
• Seahawks at Lions, 1 ET: Even without RB D’Andre Swift (dinged shoulder), Detroit ought to drop Seattle to 1-3.
• Chargers at Texans, 1 ET: It’s time the Chargers defence played up to its talent again, don’tcha think?
• Titans at Colts, 1 ET: Both now have a win, in the battle to stay closest in the AFC South to the on-fire Jaguars.
• Bears at Giants, 1 ET: Team with an underperforming QB against a team with an underperforming QB. First to 14 wins?
• Jaguars at Eagles, 1 ET: Hottest team in each conference. Trevor Lawrence last two weeks: 53-of-69, 5 TDs, 0 picks.
• Jets at Steelers, 1 ET: Trubisky’s last stand? Probably, if Pittsburgh’s offence can’t do much again even against N.Y.
• Cardinals at Panthers, 4:05 ET: The No. 1 overall draft picks of 2019 (Kyler Murray) and 2018 (Baker Mayfield).
• Patriots at Packers, 4:25 ET: Looks like Brian Hoyer will QB the Pats, at Lambeau. Hmmmm. Maybe take Green Bay.
• Broncos at Raiders, 4:25 ET: One of those games where nothing matters except Vegas ain’t opening 0-4, period.
• Chiefs at Buccaneers, 8:20 ET: Epic QB matchup, Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady. Bucs D is for real. Ask Aaron.
• Rams at 49ers, Monday, 8:15 ET: Raise your hand if you want to see Jimmy G in prime time again … Anyone? No?
BYES: None.
John Kryk writes a weekly newsletter on NFL matters. That’s where you can first see his straight-up picks each week. You can have the newsletter automatically dropped into your email inbox on Wednesdays simply by signing up — for free — at https://torontosun.com/newsletters/
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