The independent neurotrauma consultant who evaluated Tua Togavailoa after his first injury, which occurred against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, has been relieved of his duties.
Posted yesterday at 9:57 p.m.
It was the NFL Players Association which exercised its right to fire the consultant after meeting him as part of the investigation it itself commissioned on Friday.
According to what was reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, several factors would have entered into this decision, “including the inability [du consultant] to understand his role as an independent neurotrauma consultant and the hostility during the investigative process”.
Note that an Independent Neurotrauma Consultant (UNC) is assigned by the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee prior to each game. This is approved by the Circuit’s Chief Medical Officer and the Medical Director of the Players’ Association.
Tua Togavailoa stayed down after a hard sack by Josh Tupou of the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. He was evacuated on a stretcher and suffered a concussion. The injury came four days after his injury on Sunday, when he was thrown to the ground, his back hitting the turf hard. He had got up and after a few steps had collapsed twice, visibly stunned. After halftime exams, he returned to play to complete the second half.
Head coach Mike McDaniel was heavily criticized in the hours that followed. In a press conference on Friday, he said that “there was no medical indication, by any means, that there was anything concerning the head [de Tagovailoa] after Sunday’s game.
“If there had been something going on in his head, I couldn’t have lived with myself if I had sent him into the fray and put him in danger,” he added. .
In a joint statement released Saturday, the NFL and the Players Association said conversations have begun regarding possible changes to concussion protocol.