NFL officials pledged Friday that the league would not impose consequences for its most prominent concussion sufferers, as they touted a record low number of preseason concussions.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been on injured reserve since September 17th after suffering the third concussion of his professional career, but he is “being evaluated by top experts” across the country, the NFL’s leader. Medical Director Dr. Allen Sills told reporters on a conference call. .
But Sills said the league has no role in determining when or if Tagovailoa will return to the field, other than enforcing concussion protocols that it will manage with the NFL Players Association.
Editor’s picks
2 Related
“Patient autonomy and medical decision-making are really important,” Sills says. “And I think we have to recognize that that’s the case with our concussion protocols as well. Ultimately, when a patient makes a decision considering their career, it’s about giving them the best medical advice.” It needs to reflect the autonomy that comes from discussions with medical professionals.”
Sills, the neurosurgeon, added that there is no “detailed formula” that can predict Tagovailoa’s or anyone else’s future risk of concussion.
“Putting in the number of concussions, the time period between the concussions and their age, and some crazy constant or Avogadro’s number that seems to always be part of a freshman’s chemistry in some way, and then derive the risk. ,” Sills said generally. Not specifically about Tagovailoa. “It doesn’t work that way. So ultimately what we have to do is look at the totality of the patient’s experience, the number of concussions, the time between concussions, the duration of symptoms after each concussion, and so on. And it’s very in-depth, a lot of it is patient testimonials about where they are in their journey, their career, their age, things of that nature.
“And from there, as medical professionals, we try to give our best guess. But that’s really an estimate of someone’s future risk for concussion.”
Meanwhile, NFL players reportedly suffered 44 concussions this preseason, including practices and games. This is a 25% decrease from the same period in 2023 and the lowest total since the league began collecting such data in 2015. For context, there were 91 preseason concussions reported in 2017.
Sills and Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president who oversees player health and safety, attributed the decline to a number of factors, including new rules and continued adjustments to practice schedules.
But the introduction and eventual mandate of the Guardian Cap helmet supplement, which all players except quarterbacks and specialists must wear at every practice, was “an undisputed success,” Sills said.
The NFL first introduced the Guardian Cap to reduce the forces transferred between players when there is contact involving at least one helmet. But as their use was gradually mandated over the past two summers, concussion rates decreased in both cases. In 2024, players were given a list of six of the best helmets they could use that exempted them from wearing the Guardian Cap. The league says about 200 players tried out these helmets.
“I think both of these factors are contributing to the lower injury rates that we’ve seen so far,” Sills said.
Players can wear Guardian caps during matches, and approximately 5 to 10 players wear Guardian caps each week. However, Sills said there is not enough data on performance in such situations to consider a commitment to the game.
More NFL health and safety news:
• The overall injury rate on kickoffs during preseason games has decreased by 32% since 2023, a step toward achieving the league’s goal of redesigning kickoff play this offseason. However, more concussions occurred than expected. Miller said the total was in the “low single digits.”
• No concussions occurred during kickoffs in the first three weeks of the regular season, according to the league.
