According to usnews.com, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took a step towards returning to football on Wednesday. He has been in concussion protocol since September 29th and returned to practice in a limited capacity, although he will not be playing on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. Dolphin’s Head Coach Mike McDanieal stated, “We just miss his personality. He’s a guy that we rely on.” He also said there is a scenario where he could be medically cleared this week, however, he will be taking things slowly, working out and throwing individually. He continued to say that, “He hasn’t done a thing on the football field for literally two weeks, That wouldn’t be fair to the player. That wouldn’t be fair to the team. I don’t feel comfortable putting him in that situation.”
During the media viewing portion of practice the quarterback could be seen stretching, laughing, and throwing next to rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson. Thompson will be starting in Sunday’s game against the Vikings as both Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater advance through the concussion protocol.
Tagovailoa originally suffered a concussion in the first half of a Thursday night game against the Bengals and had to be stretchered off the field and taken to the hospital. He had not practiced since and didn’t travel with the Dolphins for last week’s game, a loss to the New York Jets.
Last Saturday, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to make changes to the league’s concussion protocol, and added language addressing abnormality of balance and stability to its list of symptoms that would keep a player from returning to the game. Bridgewater exited last week’s game due to the changes and worked individually with trainers on Wednesday and could return to limited football activities on Thursday. If he is cleared he will be the back up for Thompson on Sunday.
Thompson played in Bridgewater’s place after he left the game on the Dolphin’s first offensive snap. Ultimately, completing 10 of 33 passes for 166 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. McDaniel mentioned deciding to activate Reid Sinnet from the practice squad as a third option later on this week.
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