Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa is in ‘good spirits’ after being released from a Cincinnati hospital

Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is reportedly in ‘good spirits’ back in Florida after being released from a Cincinnati hospital on Thursday night following the concussion he suffered in the Dolphins’ loss to the Bengals.

He is expected to undergo an MRI and has been wearing a neck brace as a precaution after being ripped to the turf by 6-foot-3, 340-pound Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou.

Initial testing has not revealed any structural damage, a source told ESPN, but he has been diagnosed with a concussion. The good news is that he never lost feeling in his extremities.

‘Talking to him tis morning he’s still feeling some of those headaches, he’s finishing his MRI right now and we’ll find the results on that – it’s an extra precaution on top of CT scans and X-rays,’ head coach Mike McDaniel said Friday. 

McDaniel refused to put a timetable on Tagovailoa’s return. 

‘What gets lost in all this is human relationships,’ McDaniel said. ‘These aren’t just players, they are people we mutually invest in, someone I have grown very, very close to. When it comes to head injuries and concussions, things that serve, the only thing I am worried about is the person. I am worried about him getting healthy,  getting all the testing done and us working with him and feeling good where the injury is. We’ll cross the bridge for however long but haven’t thought about that yet.’

McDaniel’s comments came as he and team doctors faced criticism over Tagovailoa’s inclusion in Thursday’s game, four days after he appeared to sustain a head injury in Sunday’s win over Buffalo in Miami. Tagovailoa was not diagnosed with a concussion after that hit, but rather he and the team say he aggravated a back injury. 

McDaniel was asked if Tagovailoa would return this year, but the Dolphins Coach once again backed off offering any timetable: ‘That’s where I would feel irresponsible – even thinking about it.’ 

On Thursday night, Tagovailoa was taken off the field in Cincinnati on a stretcher after his head slammed against the turf on the hit from Tupou. The former Alabama star appeared seize up almost immediately following the hit as he hands froze in an unnatural position.

Afterwards, Dolphins first-year coach Mike McDaniel revealed that Tagovailoa called for him after going down.

‘I could tell it wasn’t the same guy that I was used to seeing,’ McDaniel said. ‘It was a scary moment. He was evaluated for a concussion. He’s in the concussion protocol, but he’s being discharged.

‘It’s an emotional moment. It’s not a part of the deal you sign up for. His teammates and myself were very concerned, but he got checked out and it’s nothing more serious than a concussion.’

Thursday’s frightening injury comes just four days after a similar scene in Miami, where Tagovailoa left Sunday’s game against the visiting Buffalo Bills with an apparent head injury, only to return to lead the Dolphins to an upset win.

Afterwards, Tagovailoa and the team both insisted he did not have a concussion, but was instead dealing with an aggravated back injury.

On Friday, McDaniel acknowledged the concern for his quarterback and stressd that he would not have played Thursday if the team thought he was dealing with a concussion from Week 3. 

‘I totally understand the concern, appreciate the concern,’ McDaniel said. ‘When I tell you that beyond an eyeball test, he didn’t have a head injury. He was evaluated for having a head injury [on Sunday] and he did not have one. He was in complete mental concert, he played the whole game, did a press conference, did media all week. 

‘If I were to sit someone for a medical issue against medical people then abstractly when do I play him again?’ McDaniel asked, rhetorically. 

‘I get the optics, I get how it looks like, I get all of this, I get people’s concern,’ he continued. ‘I can exude with 100 percent conviction that every person in this building had 100 percent the correct process, diligence and there is not one person you could talk to in the building that would think otherwise.’