AFC Notes: Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

The NFL’s chief medical officer Allen Sills spoke about the type of concussion protocol being faced by Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa. 

“The purpose of the concussion protocol is to make sure the person doesn’t return until they are fully recovered from that injury,” Sills told CBS Sports. “Obviously we don’t put timestamps on the protocol because of the fact that every injury is unique. … Now I would also say that it’s intuitively obvious that healthcare providers are increasingly conservative in those time elements if someone has a repeated injury. But again, it has to account for the time interval between injuries and the duration of symptoms.”

Sills added that whatever Tagovailoa ultimately decides will be up to him. He also commented on the nature of head injuries and what can be indicated by the fencing posture displayed by Tagovailoa following his collision with Bills S Damar Hamlin.

“I have great confidence in the Dolphins medical staff and their plan to work with the player and his representatives and family to get through this injury and then tackle all the questions that come alongside with that,” Sills noted. “I think ultimately everyone in the medical field would have a pretty broad agreement about how to ensure someone has recovered from a concussion. What we lack are specific guidelines about how to predict future risks and lifetime numbers of concussions. And those are issues upon which smart, talented, and experienced practitioners disagree, which tells you none of us really know the right answer yet.

“This is again a point that we still need more research and understanding,” Sills added of the fencing posture. “You would obviously think that fencing posture would imply a more severe injury. But we often see players who have fencing posture recover and become symptom-free in even less time than players who do not have fencing posture. It’s a very strange symptom.”

• Dolphins S Jordan Poyer was fined $11,193 for Unnecessary Roughness.

Jets

• Jets QB Aaron Rodgers on the issues getting plays off with the game clock: “I’ve got some excuses for sure. But they’re not very good.” (Zack Rosenblatt)
• Rodgers says “My heart dropped” when he saw on the scoreboard that DE Jermaine Johnson’s injury was an Achilles. (Rich Cimini)

Patriots

• Although Patriots HC Jerod Mayo wouldn’t comment on whether fourth-round WR Javon Baker being a healthy scratch from Week 1 was for disciplinary reasons, he mentioned the rookie must “develop both on and off the field,” via Mike Giardi. 
• According to Howard Balzer, the Patriots hosted DL Kyler Baugh, DL Jerrod Clark, DL Neil Farrell, DL Leonard Payne, DL Jaquelin Roy, DL Tommy Togiai, WR Jaray Jenkins, and WR John Jiles for a tryout on Monday.
• Patriots HC Jerod Mayo mentioned first-round QB Drake Maye gets 30 percent of first-team reps instead of the usual five percent because of his progression plan. (Mark Daniels)