NFLPA fires consultant involved in Tagavailoa’s concussion review

WASHINGTON — The NFL Players Association has fired the independent neurotrauma consultant who released Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagavailoa will return for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, according to several media outlets.

The NFLPA has exercised its right to fire independent neurotrauma consultants, or UNCs, who work with team doctors to diagnose a player with a concussion, both ESPN and Miami Herald reported on Saturday. Each game has three UNCs, paid jointly by the NFL and NFLPA.

The NFL players union launched an investigation into the team’s handling of Tagvailoa’s injury on Sunday after the quarterback hit his head and tripped noticeably before being removed from the field.

He missed just three snaps and returned after the break. Tagovailoa and the team said his instability after the hit was due to a back injury and he was not in concussion protocol.

But just four days after his loss in the Bills game, Tagovailoa was carted off the field on a stretcher after another blow his head hit the lawn hard and so that the hands are freezing.

Many former players were critical of the decision to allow Tagovailoa to return against Buffalo and start against Cincinnati.

Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Friday there is no timetable for Tagovailoa’s return after it was confirmed he suffered a concussion.

McDaniel reiterated Friday that Tagovailoa was cleared by multiple layers of medical personnel during last Sunday’s game and said the QB did not have a head injury.

Tagovailoa had an MRI on Friday in addition to X-rays and a CT scan the night before at a hospital in Cincinnati.