It’s not often that Dolphins general manager Chris Grier pushes back with the force he used when asked if Tua Tagovailoa’s history of concussions put him at higher risk. to suffer additional concussions.
Of all the problems facing the Dolphins, it’s hard to find one more critical not only to their future, but also to Tagovailoa’s. So all of the conclusions of Grier, the Dolphins medical team and the doctors at Tagovailoa must be taken with the seriousness they deserve.
Don’t the experts think that Tagovailoa is exposing himself to an increased risk by continuing to play?
“That’s not a true statement,” Grier said.
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier says Tua Tagovailoa is not more susceptible to concussions
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Grier’s position is supported not only by team and union doctors that Tagovailoa has seen, but also by independent concussion experts who have not treated the quarterback. Dr Joseph Maroon said just because a football player has suffered a concussion does not automatically put them at increased risk of having another.
Maroon is a neurology consultant for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a clinical professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, which on its website cites the University of Pittsburgh Center for Traumatic Brain Injury Research as saying, “The risk of concussion in football is three to six times higher in players who have had a previous concussion. ”
But there are many gray areas when it comes to concussions and for Maroon, this is one.
“My caveat: If the brain is not fully recoveredthere is a higher incidence,” he said.
This warning is essential. The Dolphins’ season just ended, so Tagovailoa could last until September without being contacted again.
“Given the whole offseason with no more contact, the odds are very, very positive that he’ll be back next year,” Maroon said, adding he wouldn’t have any additional concerns for Tagovailoa’s well-being. .
Maroon and Dr. Gillian Hotz, director of the University of Miami’s UHealth Concussion Program, stress the importance of giving the brain time to heal before returning to play. Tagovailoa suffered his last concussion over Christmas against Green Bay, after which coach Mike McDaniel repeatedly stated that decisions about when Tagovailoa might increase his activities were solely up to the doctors.
“They’re the experts in these areas and when they tell us he’s ready to play…then we’re going to move on,” McDaniel said in his post-season press conference.
By then, Tagovailoa had missed the Dolphins’ last three games, including a wild card loss to Buffalo.
McDaniel and Grier say Tagovailoa will continue to be their franchise quarterbacks.
“I don’t think he’s more inclined than anyone,” Grier said.
Chris Nowinski also on board in concussion assessment
Boynton Beach’s Chris Nowinski agreed. Nowinski is a co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation and asked ESPN if Tagovailoa’s troubles last season could be the result of his hasty return to the field — not durability. Writing on the FCF website, Nowinski said it was unfair to say Tagovailoa was prone to concussions.
“A cluster of concussions, or even long-term symptoms, does not preclude a successful comeback or a long career,” Nowinski wrote.
That’s not to say there’s no limit to the number of concussions a player can sustain before a doctor says it’s time to hang up.
“I advised many athletes to give up hockey as well as soccer,” Maroon said.
Before reaching that point, Maroon looks for persistent symptoms, problems with cognition, and abnormalities on scans. It uses a before-after snapshot of an athlete’s cognitive abilities, which is possible via the ImPACT test, which Maroon helped design in the 1990s with doctors Mark Lovell and Michael Collins.
Taking around 20 minutes, ImPACT measures skills such as brain speed and the ability to process information. It has been administered 23 million times, at all levels of competition. The “forward” baseline is established in the pre-season. Following a concussion, the test is repeated to help determine when to release an athlete.
Tagovailoa became a national focal point when he was injured Sept. 25 against the Buffalo Bills. He returned to that game, with the Dolphins saying he suffered a back injury rather than a concussion. Four days later, in a prime-time game against Cincinnati, Tagovailoa suffered a concussion that required a trip to the hospital. The Dolphins’ problems multiplied the following week when their replacement, Teddy Bridgewater, was deemed to have stumbled by the NFL Observer above. This disqualified Bridgewater from the match.
Here, too, there may soon be another tool to take subjectivity out of the equation. Maroon sees the potential of a mouthguard developed by Prevent biometrics which measures the G-force of blows. These stats would be available to observers via the transmitter after each game. If experts agree on a maximum level of G-force before a concussion occurs, that could take the uncertainty out of cases such as Bridgewater’s. . Mouthguards are used in rugby overseas.
“I think something like that happens (in the NFL),” Maroon said.