‘It’s the worst part of the game’; Bills react after Dolphins QB gets concussion, two years after scary injury

MIAMI — The Buffalo Bills defeated the Dolphins 31-10 in Miami on Thursday night, but one story making headlines isn’t about the score. The Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa went out of the game with a concussion.

Back in September of 2022, Tagovailoa had a scary moment when his fingers were frozen in place after getting two concussions just days apart. That led to him being carried off the field with a stretcher. Many criticized the decision to put him in that second game at all.

On Thursday, Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion within minutes of his head-first collision. As the quarterback slammed right into Bills safety Damar Hamlin, you can see his head bounce off Hamlin and hit the ground. While the Bills got to celebrate the win, there was some concern for Tagovailoa.

“The Tua situation didn’t look good. Are thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. We want the best for him,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said.

“It’s the worst part of the game. Nothing but love and prayer for him and his family. And hopefully everyone is sending those because he’s going to need them,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said.

Concussions are a form of traumatic brain injury and can be incredibly serious. After Tagovailoa’s back-to-back head trauma in 2022, it reignited the concussion conversation in the NFL.

Within weeks, the NFL had upped its policy, getting stricter about when to take a player out of the game after potential head trauma. Last night, Tagovailoa took himself off the field and then was formally excluded per that policy.

The Dolphins’ next game is on Sunday, Sept. 22. As for whether or not the starting quarterback will be there, the Dolphins coach declined to comment.

For some, concussions might not seem like a big deal and almost one in three people self-report having at least one in their life. But it’s a form of traumatic brain injury.

You may have heard of CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. That’s the long-term disease that destroys your brain, linked to repeated head trauma. It’s found in boxers, former military personnel, and football players.

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