The NFL agreed to an updated concussion protocol; The new protocol includes "Ataxia"

Teammates rally around Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after suffering an injury on Sept. 29 in Cincinnati. The NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed to change the league's injury protocol as well they agreed to revise the league's injury protocol following a joint review of the league's procedures after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was injured against the Buffalo Bills last month.

The NFL and NFLPA said they reviewed the video and jointly interviewed members of the Dolphins' medical staff, the head athletic trainer, Booth's ATC spotter, an unrelated neurotrauma consultant and Tagovailoa.

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The review said Tagovailoa told the medical staff that he aggravated his back injury on the play in question and that he stumbled because of his back injury. It also stated that the medical staff determined that the gross motor instability was not due to a injury.

In their statement Saturday, the NFL and the players' union said the QB's back was not examined during the injury exam, but that they "instead relied on an earlier exam conducted by other members of the medical staff."

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The conclusion then was that the back injury was the cause of Tagovailoa's instability.

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The new protocol includes "ataxia". Result of the joint investigation, the league and union agreed to change the league's injury protocol to include the term "ataxia".

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Result of the joint investigation, the league and union agreed to change the league's injury protocol to include the term "ataxia". .

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In the statement, they defined ataxia as "an abnormality of balance/stability, motor coordination, or dysfunctional speech caused by a neurological problem."

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Ataxia has replaced the term "gross motor instability" and has been added to the list of symptoms that prevent a player from returning to the game. Others are confusion, amnesia, and loss of consciousness.

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On October 1, the union fired an unrelated neurotrauma consultant who handled Tagovailoa's condition during the game.

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Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of health and safety, said in a virtual news conference Saturday that he believed this was the first time UNC had been fired and that the NFL did not support the decision to fire him.

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NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Sills said that Tagovailoa was released on Sept. 25, per the league's revised protocol. Roy would have been diagnosed with an injury under the ataxia term, making him ineligible to return to that game.

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Sills said there is no exact return timetable for a player diagnosed with a injury, but it would be "highly unlikely" that a player diagnosed with ataxia would be able to play Thursday night. The median time with a flare-up is nine days, he added

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