Joe Burrow comments on Tua Tagovailoa injury following Thursday Night Football
The result of this week’s Thursday Night Football game between Miami and Cincinnati proved secondary to the scary sight in the second quarter when Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered head and neck injuries after being slammed down to the turf rather violently, crashing his head on the Paycor Stadium field. Tagovailoa did not move in the aftermath of the tackle and was eventually stretchered off the field surrounded by a fence of teammates.
Thankfully, Tua Tagovailoa was eventually discharged from the University of Cincinnati Hospital later that night and flew home with the team early Friday morning wearing a neck brace. But the whole ordeal definitely rattled every player on that field, including Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who knows a thing or two about being tossed to the ground by defensive linemen.
After the game, on the Amazon postgame show, Burrow addressed the scary situation from the first half:
“Man, that’s always scary when somebody goes down like that. We play a dangerous game. At the end of the day, we’re all competitors, but we want everybody to stay healthy out there,” Burrow said. “Tua’s a tough guy. I’ve known him for a long time. It’s great news that he’s flying back with the team. Hopefully, he recovers quickly.”
Obviously, nothing but respect and well wishes from Joe Burrow to the fellow 2019 draftee. For more on the Tua Tagovailoa injury, check out his head coach, Mike McDaniel’s, comments after the game:
Miami coach Mike McDaniel on Tua Tagovailoa
“It was a scary moment,” McDaniel said in his postgame press conference. “He was evaluated for a concussion and he’s in the concussion protocol. He was at the hospital, I believe he’s about to get discharged. That was an emotional moment that is not part of the deal that anyone signs up for even though you know it’s a possibility in football to have something that you have to get taken off on a stretcher.
“All of his teammates, myself, we were all very concerned. The best news that we can get is everything is checked out, that he didn’t have anything more serious than a concussion. He’ll be flying back with us here on the plane.”
McDaniel also addressed the personal side of the situation, opening up about his mentality after the scary play.
“For me, I think a lot of people struggled,” McDaniel said. “I know me, personally, if I didn’t have a job to do for the organization and the rest of the players and I didn’t have that obligation in my mind, I would’ve tapped. It’s not something that is comfortable for anybody. It was not a situation that you want for any of your players or your team in general. Some scary stuff. I’m just glad that it worked out.”