NFLPA investigating Dolphins’ handling of Tua Tagovailoa head injury

The Bengals host the Dolphins in Week 4. Will Tagovailoa play?

The Cincinnati Bengals welcome the undefeated Miami Dolphins Thursday. In what will be the team’s first primetime game of the season, they may be facing an opponent that doesn’t have their starting quarterback.

Tua Tagovailoa finished his Week 3 game against the Buffalo Bills and scored a 21-19 win over the Super Bowl favorites. Through three weeks, the former Alabama quarterback is off to the best start of his career, but he was notably shaken up during the game.

Tagovailoa left the game in the first half with what the team announced as a head injury after a hit from Bills linebacker Matt Milano. Tagovailoa stumbled around while walking to the sideline and appeared to have concussion-like symptoms. He was briefly replaced by backup Teddy Bridgewater.

However, Tagovailoa returned to the field for the start of the second half and later said it was actually a back injury, but not everyone is convinced it wasn’t a concussion.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the NFLPA is investigating whether or not Tagovailoa should’ve re-entered the game.

“PFT has confirmed that the union has exercised its right to initiate an investigation of the decision to allow Tagovailoa to return,” Florio wrote.

Here’s the clip that should’ve prompted more looking into from the team’s staff.

The Dolphins are one of the league’s up-and-coming teams after missing the playoffs a season ago. They added a star lineman and a superstar wide receiver this offseason, signing Terron Armstead and trading for Tyreek Hill.

Thus far, those moves have helped unlock a new dimension for Tagovailoa. Bringing in Mike McDaniel, who was the offensive coordinator for the 49ers last season, was also a key move for Miami.

If it turns out that Tagovailoa did have a concussion, he’ll be highly questionable to play just four days later when Cincinnati hosts Miami on Thursday Night Football. But even if he’s out, Bridgewater is more than capable of leading this Dolphins team to wins, especially since this would arguably be the best supporting cast he’s ever had.

Tagovailoa’s status will be something to monitor in the coming days.