Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa not in concussion protocol, coach Mike McDaniel says

MIAMI — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not in concussion protocol as the team prepares for Thursday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday.

Tagovailoa briefly left Sunday's win over the Buffalo Bills and was evaluated for a concussion after hitting the back of his head on the ground during the second quarter. He stumbled while trying to jog back to the huddle after the play, prompting the Dolphins to evaluate him for a concussion on the sideline and ultimately in the locker room.

After the game, both McDaniel and Tagovailoa said it was the quarterback's back that caused him to stumble, not a head injury; Tagovailoa said he felt like he «hyperextended» his back earlier in the game on a designed quarterback sneak, and it flared up late in the second quarter.

Tagovailoa said he passed the league-mandated concussion protocol at halftime and was allowed to return to the game.

Despite Tagovailoa's and McDaniel's comments, the NFL Players Association told the NFL it wanted a review of the league's concussion protocol because of Tagovailoa's quick return to the game. Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, McDaniel said the Dolphins will comply with any league investigation and insisted that he would not have allowed his quarterback to be put in harm's way «if there were any red flags.»

«The one thing that our players know more than anybody is there's certain things that I'm very sensitive to — I've been called emotional from time to time — and one of those things is player health,» he said. «I don't mess around with that at all. Tua was pretty annoyed with me in the game because he knew what hurt and didn't understand why people kept talking to him about what we were talking to him