The decision to place quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve gives all parties something that’s very hard to come by during the non-stop grind of football season.
Time.
When it comes to concussions, the prevailing culture is simple. Get the player through the five steps of the return-to-play protocol, as soon as possible. It’s what the player wants. It’s what the team wants.
Some players return to play in seven days. Last year, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a concussion on a Monday night and was back on Sunday.
Injured reserve is a rarity for brain injuries. This is Tua’s second concussion-related stint on IR.
Here, the decision removes the urgency from the equation. For at least a month. That gives Tua a chance to talk to doctors and his family and advisers. It also gives the Dolphins a chance to do something that any business would do in this situation: Strategize.
What do the Dolphins want? What’s in the best interests of the team? On the surface, they’ve handled this perfectly, saying and doing all the right and responsible things. Behind the scenes, it’s imperative to have frank and candid conversations about how events could and should unfold in the future.
Complicating matters is the NFL. What does the league want? Having a player who generates so much discussion about concussions and affirmatively not playing football isn’t good for business. It renews questions about whether parents should prevent their kids from participating in tackle football. The league might try, subtly or otherwise, to nudge the falling of the dominoes toward Tua not returning, ever.
Last year, when Tua was able to play 18 games without a concussion, it wasn’t an issue. We’d all forgotten about his multiple (at least two and likely three) concussions from 2022. Now that he’s had another one, it’s hard to imagine setting aside once again the ever-present concern that he’s one play away from another concussion.
Football is business. The team will have business decisions to make. The league will have business decisions to make. The player will have business decisions to make. Pressing pause on the situation for four games allows everyone to start evaluating their options — even if those options are never shared with the world.
The Dolphins will have a flow chart. Even if it’s not literally mapped out, there are chains of logic that will unfold based on the various potential developments. If/when he’s cleared, what’s next? If/when he chooses to play, what’s next? If he has another concussion, what’s next?
One real but unusual possibility would be that Tua isn’t cleared to play and that he finds a doctor who clears him to play and an issue would arise under the CBA.
The fact that these events are playing out against the backdrop of more than $162 million in injury guarantees makes it even more reasonable and responsible for the Dolphins, the league, and the player to be thinking strategically and acting deliberately about the business aspects of this medical situation. Whether the business decisions come during or after the season, the next month gives everyone a chance to work through the initial phases of making them.
