Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa, & Concussions: It’s Not the Crime, It’s the Coverup (Revisited)

Will the NFL take more action on steady concussion rates, or will the league sweep it under the table?

JD Solomon
3 min readSep 21, 2024
“You best believe there are going to be long-term ramifications if Tua Tagovailoa is seriously injured.” (Photo: Wikipedia Commons: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)

Here we go again! The Miami Dolphins, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, head coach Mike McDaniel, and the National Football League are at the center of an ongoing concussion controversy. The September 12, 2024, concussion in a game against the Buffalo Bills was Tugovailoa’s third in two years.

Has the concussion rate in the NFL decreased, or are we simply not talking about it?

Concussion Rates in the NFL

There are approximately 200 reported concussions in the NFL per season. That’s a little over 7 per team per season and about 1 every other game for each team.

There has been a slight overall decline since 2015, but the NFL admits the numbers have stabilized over the past few seasons despite hundreds of rule changes to prevent them over the past decade.

For reference, 214 concussions were reported in the 2022 season, a slight increase from 187 in 2021. Tua Tagovailoa had two of the 214 concussions in 2022.

NFL Injuries

One player per team per week goes on the long-term Injured Reserve (IR) list.

I was shocked by that number when I first read it a decade ago. That makes the NFL a loose type of Gladiator sport.

I rechecked the numbers last week. On average, NFL teams place about 10 to 15 players on the long-term IR list each season. This number can fluctuate based on the team’s injury rates and severity of injuries. It is actually rare to have 16 in a season, but the Ravens and 49ers did it in 2022.

Whether it’s one per game or one per every two games, many players are still carted off each week for a season-ending injury.

The NFL and Injuries

The NFL releases injury data at the end of every season. This is a brief summary of the 2023 season.

  • Continued progress drove down overall injuries, with players missing 700 fewer games during the 2023 regular season due to injury than in 2022.
  • Meaningful progress in reducing lower extremity injuries, the highest burden injury in terms of time lost among NFL players.
  • Injury rates on turf and grass surfaces were equal
  • Concussion numbers largely remained steady compared to the previous season.

It’s Not the Crime, It’s the Coverup

“It’s Not the Crime, It’s the Coverup” is a Medium article I did in 2022 after the pair of Tua Tagovailoa concussions. Back then, rookie head coach Mike McDaniel and the NFL were on the hot seat.

https://medium.com/@pamlicojd/its-not-the-crime-it-s-the-coverup-b2030c3a453b

Stephen A. Smith said at the time, “You best believe there are going to be long-term ramifications if Tua Tagovailoa is seriously injured.”

Two years later, McDaniel, the Dolphins, and the NFL are still on the hot seat.

Does anyone think that a fourth concussion for Tua Tagovailoa is in his or the game’s best interest? Is the NFL willing to continue to tolerate such a high (and steady) number of concussions each year?

Remember, it’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.

Reference: https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/health-and-wellness/injury-data/2023-season-key-takeaways

JD Solomon is an avid sailor, fisherman, and sports fan.

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