NFLPA agrees to concussion protocol modifications, urges NFL to do the identical

The NFL Gamers Affiliation has agreed to modifications to the concussion protocol and is urging the NFL to do the identical earlier than Sunday’s video games kick off.

The announcement comes within the wake of a evaluate over how Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion analysis was dealt with in Week 3.

“Our union has agreed to vary the concussion protocols to guard gamers from returning to play within the case of any related incident to what we noticed on September 25,” the NFLPA Board and Govt Committee mentioned in a press release Friday. “We wish these modifications to enter impact earlier than this weekend’s video games to instantly defend the gamers and hope the NFL accepts the modifications earlier than then as effectively.”

Tagovailoa hit the again of his head on the bottom and stumbled whereas making an attempt to return to the huddle after a play within the Dolphins’ recreation in opposition to the Buffalo Payments on Sept. 25. He was instantly taken to the locker room with a head harm, the staff introduced on the time.

He handed the locker room analysis, nevertheless, and returned to complete the sport after halftime with each Tagovailoa and the Dolphins clarifying that his stumble was attributable to a again harm he suffered earlier within the recreation.

4 days later, Tagovailoa was taken to an area hospital after his head hit the turf late in a Week 4 recreation in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals. He was identified with a concussion and is dominated out for Sunday’s recreation in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings.

The NFLPA initiated its proper to request a evaluate of the NFL’s concussion protocol following Tagovailoa’s fast return to the sport and terminated the unaffiliated neurotrauma guide who initially evaluated the quarterback throughout the Payments recreation.

The NFL and NFLPA have each mentioned they’re dedicated to altering the concussion protocol based mostly on what each events realized throughout the evaluate.

ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.