Dolphins vs Steelers: Tua returns

It’s been 24 days since Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was knocked out after a hard hit against the Cincinnati Bengals caused his head to slam against the turf and for him to be carted off on a stretcher.

“After I got tackled, I don’t remember much from there,” said Tagovailoa. “Getting carted off, I don’t remember that.”

When the injury occurred, there was outrage. Just four days before, Tagovailoa had suffered an injury during the game against the Bills and showed signs of having suffered from a concussion. Despite that, he was cleared to play the next game against the Bengals, and the result was that scary moment on the field when he was unconscious on the ground and contorting his fingers in a way that experts say is a response to severe head trauma. Questions about the NFL concussion protocols were brought to the surface and changes were made as quickly as possible which will hopefully prevent something like this from happening in the future.

Tagovailoa will return tonight to play against the Steelers in prime time for the first time since that day after clearing the NFL’s new concussion protocols. All eyes will be on the quarterback to see if he can avoid a head injury happening again. Will he throw more often, even if it’s risky, to avoid a hit? If he’s not able to make that adjustment, the risk will be higher of another similar injury, and even just one concussion can have long-term effects. More than one and the risks become even riskier. Tagovailoa has said that his parents had a hard time dealing with all of it and one has to wonder how long he will continue playing at all after something as traumatic as that.

“I wouldn’t say it was scary for me at the time because there was a point where I was unconscious, so I couldn’t really tell what was going on,” said Tagovailoa. “When I did come to and kind of realized what was going on and what was happening, I didn’t think of anything long term or short term. I was just wondering what happened.”

While Tagovailoa was either unconscious or semi conscious immediately following the hit, everyone who watched it happen felt the terror, not knowing how bad it was or could be in the future. He returned to training on Wednesday and was part of several extensive interviews with the NFL and NFLPA; he underwent several exams by various doctors before finally being cleared to play tonight. The Miami team doctors reportedly agreed that the scans did not show signs of long-term effects on his brain and that he did not suffer any setbacks during the protocol.

The Dolphins have been struggling without Tagovailoa. They were 3-0 to start, and without him are 0-3. He makes his return to Sunday Night Football tonight against the Steelers at 8:20 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.