Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was cleared from concussion protocol on Saturday, paving the way for his return.
Tagovailoa, who has been out since suffering a concussion against the Bengals on Sept. 29, will be inactive for this Sunday’s game against the Vikings. But he is expected to start when Miami hosts the Steelers in the Sunday night game on Oct. 23.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tagovailoa received four outside opinions, in addition to those of team doctors, who “unanimously” cleared him from protocol and agreed that his scans showed no signs of-long term impact to the brain.
Tagovailoa also reportedly didn’t suffer any setbacks during his progress through the concussion protocol, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Whether Tagovailoa suffered Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy (CTE) as a result of the concussion he sustained against the Bengals, and another he may have suffered against the Bills four days earlier, is unknown — CTE can’t be detected in brain scans.
Teddy Bridgewater was also cleared from concussion protocol and will serve as rookie QB Skylar Thompson’s backup this week against the Vikings.
Both Tagovailoa and Bridgewater were full participants in practice on Friday.
Tagovailoa was briefly hospitalized after he hit his head on the ground on a sack during the Bengals game, which came just four days after he similarly hit his head against the Bills and was stumbling before being evaluated at halftime and being allowed to return to that game, with the Dolphins and Tagovailoa saying a back injury was responsible for his having trouble walking.
A review of the league’s concussion protocol was sought by the NFL Players Association in the wake of the injury and ultimately led to the firing of the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who performed Tagovailoa’s first concussion evaluation after it was determined “several mistakes” had been made, including not examining the QB’s back.
The NFL and NFLPA agreed on changes to the concussion protocol last weekend, which include ataxia as a “no-go” symptom, meaning any player who displays an abnormality of balance or stability, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech is to be removed and not allowed to return to the game.
Meanwhile, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel earlier this week said he was looking forward to having Tagovailoa back.
“In these situations, you are relying on all medical advice and what people can do and what we’ve been told is he can go out and throw and do some individual work this week,” McDaniel said. “So that’s exciting for everybody just because, you know, really we just miss his personality. He’s a guy that we rely on that, not to mention all of his play and all that stuff.”