NFL says it's not involved in deciding when Tua Tagovailoa returns from concussion

Tua Tagovailoa is seeing "top experts" across the United States as the Miami Dolphins quarterback attempts to return from the concussion he suffered on Sept. 12, according to the NFL's chief medical officer.

On a conference call with reporters Friday, Dr. Allen Sills said Friday that the league was not involved in Tagovailoa's return. Sills said the league's primary goal, along with that of the NFL Players' Association, is making sure the concussion protocol the two entities jointly enforce is being followed by teams and players.

"Patient autonomy and medical decision-making really matters," Sills said. "And I think that's what we have to recognize goes on with our concussion protocol as well. Because ultimately, when patients make decisions about considering their careers, it has to reflect that autonomy that's generated from discussions with medical experts, and giving them best medical advice.

"When it gets down to decision-making about whether a player is fully cleared and recovered from their injury or what's their future long-term risk, those are individual decisions between the patient and their care team."

Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in college while playing at the University of Alabama. With the Dolphins, he was cleared of an apparent head injury in Week 3 of 2022 before he suffered a gruesome concussion four days later against the Cincinnati Bengals. He returned that year but was concussed again on Christmas Day and missed the final two games of the season.

All things Dolphins: Latest Miami Dolphins news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Doctors have a difficult time determining if someone is more susceptible to a concussion in the future, said Sills, who is a neurosurgeon.

"What we end up having to do is look at the totality of the patient's experience," Sills said. "How many concussions, the interval between those concussions. Some about duration of symptoms after each concussion. And then very much the patient's voice about where they are in their journey, their career, their age and things of that nature.

"Making sure that someone is recovered from the acute injury ... is the initial focus as a medical practitioner."

The league promoted the record low number of concussions (44) during the preseason, which included practices and games.

In regards to Guardian Cap efficacy, Sill said the league submitted its concussion rate data to a medical publication and expects those numbers to be published in the coming months.

"We have seen there is no downside to wearing a Guardian Cap," said Sills, who added that the goal of the helmet augmentation is not to reduce concussions but to limit the force between the helmet and brain during hits.