Patriots players have strong reaction to Tua Tagovailoa's scary injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered what was described as a back injury last week against the Buffalo Bills. He remained in the game, even though it looked like he might have suffered a concussion. He should have been taken out.
The Dolphins received lots of criticism for doing that and an investigation was launched.
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Despite all of that, Tagovailoa was allowed to play for the Dolphins on short rest in Thursday night's road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
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It was a horrendous decision.
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Tagovailoa suffered head and neck injuries on a hard hit in the first quarter that resulted in him being driven to the ground and his helmet appearing to bang against the turf. He had to be stretchered off the field. He was conscious and had movement in all of his extremities. He was discharged from a Cincinnati-area hospital and flew back to Miami with the team.
The events that unfolded Thursday night drew plenty of reaction from NFL players past and present, including several with New England Patriots ties.
Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon and safety Adrian Phillips had strong takes on the situation.
Former Patriots safety Jason McCourty had a good take, too:
It's unknown how long Tagovailoa will be out. Based on how the Dolphins have handled his situation so far, it wouldn't be shocking if he played in Week 5 when Miami visits the New York Jets.
But he Dolphins absolutely should give Tagovailoa some extra time to recover from whatever he's dealing with. They also have one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league in Teddy Bridgewater. He's more than capable of beating the New York Jets next week.
