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Tua Tagovailoa is in the concussion protocol, will he be available against the Bills?
Thanks to their win over the New York Jets on Sunday — and the New England Patriots’ loss to the Buffalo Bills — the Miami Dolphins are in the NFL playoffs.
Now they are waiting to see if starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be under center when they take on those Bills this weekend.
Tagovailoa was placed in the concussion protocol after the Dolphins’ loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day. Tagovailoa played the entire game, but according to head coach Mike McDaniel, he showed concussion symptoms the following day. Tagovailoa missed the final two games of the season.
This is the second time that Tagovailoa has been placed in the concussion protocol. In Week 3, Tagovailoa appeared to hit his head on the field during the first half in a game against the Bills, and it was reported that he suffered a head injury. But he returned to the field, and after the game he was reported to have suffered a back injury instead.
Then in Miami’s Week 4 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, jsust a few days later, Tagovailoa left the game with a concussion. He missed two games, and an investigation was launched into how his injury was handled by the team and the league. No violations were found, but the league did revise the concussion protocol and the “no-go” symptoms.
According to Barry Jackson, who covers the Dolphins for the Miami Herald, Tagovailoa is progressing through the concussion protocol, but his status for this weekend remains uncertain:
Tua ended yesterday still in first 3 steps of concussion protocol. Unclear when 3 doctors will allow him to move to step 4 and then potentially step 5. Any player must clear all 5 steps to be allowed to play. McDaniel will address Tua late today, Wednesday and Friday.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) January 9, 2023
This post will be updated with additional information on Tagovailoa’s status for this weekend.