CINCINNATI —

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion when he was tackled in the Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

His status on when he returns to the field remains unknown.

Tua remained on the turf for several minutes before he was rushed to University Medical Center, the area's only level one trauma center.

Former Bengals player Mike Martin said, even though it was a legal hit, it is a reminder of the dangers in the game.

“When you get in a situation like that with a big defensive lineman who can bring most mortals down like they are rag dolls. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't go back, look at that and come up with a fine,” Martin said.

There was already controversy about whether Tagovailoa should have been on the field at all last night because of an injury he suffered in a previous game.

Miami Dolphin's coach Mike McDaniel said Friday that Tagovailoa was cleared by several layers of medical professionals during that game and did not have a head injury.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Football is "America's Game", and millions of fans across the country know the sport inside and out.

Many are also familiar with the potentially career-ending and life-threatening injuries that can plague NFL players, concussions most notably.

The NFL concussion protocol, implemented in 2011, is a set of actions and decisions that determine if a player is currently suffering from a concussion. If concussion symptoms are spotted, players are escorted off the field in order to undergo an examination and evaluation.

With millions watching the Thursday night NFL matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, questions regarding the NFL's concussion protocol have arisen. Questions that also concern who exactly is in charge of deciding if a player is ready to return to the field after suffering a major hit on the field. And what happens when the wrong decision is made?

In Thursday night's game, Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a hit to the back of the head and neck after being sacked by Bengals nose tackle Josh Tupou.

Tagovailoa immediately showed signs of "fencing," a reaction where the arms are held in the air in the seconds after an impact to the head or neck.

After being stretchered off the field and taken to a local Cincinnati hospital, it was announced that the quarterback was conscious and was not suffering from any structural damage.

Tagovailoa remains in concussion protocol.

However, the week before the Thursday night game, Tagovailoa suffered a head injury after hitting the ground during the first half of a home game against the Buffalo Bills.

Tagovailoa was slow to get up and was later taken to the locker room.

The quarterback returned to the game after he was initially marked as questionable to return.

The NFL's Player Association requested a review of the concussion protocols after Tagovailoa's quick and possibly questionable return to the game.

According to the NFL's Concussion Game Day Checklist, the following actions are supposed to determine whether or not a player has suffered a concussion and is in the right condition to return to the field.

What happens when a player receives a blow or impact to the head during a game?

• When a player receives a blow or impact to the head and shows symptoms related to a concussion, the player is supposed to be immediately removed to the sideline or stabilized onfield, if needed.
  • Even if a blow to the head does not occur, an (ATC) athletic trainer spotter, booth ATC, team physician, NFL official, coach, teammate, or UNC (Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant) can initiate concussion protocol.

• A survey is then performed where the player's helmet is removed. The team's physician and a UNC conduct the survey.
  • The player may return to the field if the survey is normal: the player has a recollection of the event, passes Maddock's questions, and a video review is "benign."
  • A focused neurological exam is also performed
    • A cervical spine exam, an evaluation of speech, observation of gait, eye movements, and pupillary exam are also performed.
  • The player may not return to the field if the player has loss of consciousness, gross motor instability, confusion, or amnesia.
• What are Maddock's questions?
  1. At which field are we?
  2. Which quarter is it?
  3. How far into the quarter is it - the first, middle, or last 10 minutes?
  4. Which side scored last?
  5. Which team did we play last week?
  6. Did we win last week?
• What happens after a player fails the sideline survey?
  • After a failed sideline survey, the player is taken to the locker room where an exam is performed. If the exam is normal, the player may return to the field.
  • The exam consists of a complete NFL SCAT (Standardized Concussion Assessment Tool), a tool used to evaluate concussions by healthcare professionals. The exam also consists of a complete neurological exam.
• Steps after a failed locker room exam?
  • The player stays in the locker room and undergoes periodic evaluation by a medical team
  • A follow-up neurological exam is performed.

What happens when a team fails to properly follow concussion protocol?

• In 2016, The NFL and NFLPA announced a new policy to enforce the above concussion protocol. The new policy implements a "strict and fair" process that investigates incidents regarding concussion protocol and what discipline will be enacted.
  • A first violation by a team will require team employees or medical team employees to attend a remedial education and/or the team will pay a maximum fine of $150,000.
  • A second violation will result in a minimum fine of $100,000 against the team.
  • If it is agreed that a violation involved aggravating circumstances, the team will be subject to a fine of no less than $50,000.
  • If the NFL Commissioner determines that a medical team failed to follow the protocol in order to win a game, the Commissioner can require the team to forfeit draft picks and impose fines that can exceed the amounts above.

This story was originally reported by Imani Clement on wkbw.com.

Veteran NFL coach Anthony Lynn appreciates the league policy that requires teams to interview minority candidates for their top jobs and he has even benefited from it. Like many of his peers, though, the assistant head coach for the San Francisco 49ers believes the policy has fallen short of its good intentions.

There were three non-white head coaches when the Rooney Rule went into effect in 2003, and today, there are five. Skepticism about NFL hiring practices has remained steady among minority job candidates, who see parallels to the challenges corporate America faces.

A racial discrimination lawsuit filed this month against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has magnified attention on the league's hiring practices.

Lynn said, “I really believe in the spirit of the Rooney Rule, but I just saw how people were abusing it and I didn’t want to be a part of that.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told teams recently that the league will look to improve policies meant to encourage the hiring of minorities, particularly as head coaches.

"We will reevaluate and examine all policies, guidelines and initiatives relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, including as they relate to gender," Goodell wrote in a memo to the league's 32 clubs. The commissioner added that the league's record on hiring minority coaches has been "unacceptable."

A lawsuit filed last week which alleges the National Football League has followed racist hiring practices has now shed light on allegations from multiple coaches that claim NFL team owners have offered incentives, or bonuses, to coaches to lose games.

Two teams and two coaches sit at the center of a related controversy.

Brian Flores, the former coach for the Miami Dolphins who was fired last month by the team, said in a lawsuit that he was offered $100,000 by owner Stephen Ross in 2019 for each loss he was able to complete, Reuters reported. Flores claimed in the recent filing that the offer was meant to help the Dolphins get a better draft pick in 2020.

Hue Jackson, the former coach for the Cleveland Browns, who was fired eight games into the 2018 season and lost all 16 games in 2017, said he was offered incentives to lose while he was the coach for the Browns, the Associated Press reported. According to Reuters, the NFL draft of college players gives the highest pick to teams with the worst records. When Jackson was a coach for the Browns, the team lost 36 of 40 games.

Legal experts say that if the allegations are determined to be true, possible class action lawsuits for hundreds of millions of dollars could be filed, or even criminal liability could be possible, as experts told Reuters.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell delivered remarks on the controversy the NFL has been going through at an annual Super Bowl news conference on Wednesday. The NFL commissioner was grilled on two hot topics that have put the league under heavy scrutiny: racism and discrimination in hiring as he sat under a baking sun during an unseasonable week of weather in Southern California.

There were other issues that don't shine a positive light on pro football, including threats to the integrity of the sport, and misconduct by players and team executives. A week after former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who is Black, filed a lawsuit alleging both racism in the league and being offered money by team owner Stephen Ross to tank games, Goodell vowed action on several fronts.

As ESPN reported, Goodell said "We believe in diversity," during the news conference outside of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the site of Super Bowl 2022. He said, "I think we have to continue to look and find and step back and say, 'We're not doing a good enough job here.' We need to find better solutions and better outcomes. Let's find more effective policies. Let's make sure everyone understands. Let's make sure that we're looking at diversity and incentivizing that for everybody in our building."

The commissioner said, "We're not having the success we want with head coaches. How do we evolve that rule, or do we have to have a new rule? Do we need to find some other way of being able to achieve that outcome? I think we're not going to rest until we find that until we get those outcomes that are mandatory for us to move forward and have an inclusive league."

The NFL commissioner appeared to have more questions than answers on Wednesday as the league is embroiled in multiple allegations including racism and discrimination among hiring practices for head coaches, but also within at least one lawsuit filed and other comments on social media alleging that team owners have offered payments to coaches to throw games.

A lawsuit filed last week alleges the National Football League followed racist hiring practices and has shed light on allegations from multiple coaches that claim NFL team owners have offered incentives, or bonuses, to coaches to lose games.

Two teams and two coaches sit at the center of the latest controversial claims, with both team owners denying the allegations.

Brian Flores, the former coach for the Miami Dolphins who was fired last month by the team, said in a lawsuit that he was offered $100,000 by owner Stephen Ross in 2019 for each loss he was able to complete, Reuters reported. Flores claimed in the recent filing that the offer was meant to help the Dolphins get a better draft pick in 2020.

Hue Jackson, the former coach for the Cleveland Browns, who was fired eight games into the 2018 season and lost all 16 games in 2017, said he was offered incentives to lose while he was the coach for the Browns, the Associated Press reported. According to Reuters, the NFL draft of college players gives the highest pick to teams with the worst records. When Jackson was a coach for the Browns, the team lost 36 of 40 games.

Legal experts say that if the allegations are determined to be true, possible class action lawsuits for hundreds of millions of dollars could be filed, or even criminal liability could be possible, as experts told Reuters.

While the allegations contain claims that the two teams wanted to improve chances that their teams could be awarded opportunities to pick top prospects in the NFL draft, they also come at a time of huge growth in the legal sports gambling industry.

Ross refutes the claims calling the allegations "false, malicious and defamatory" and said he welcomes an investigation, according to Reuters.

As the Associated Press reported, the Cleveland Browns deny the claims by Jackson saying he "completely fabricated" the accusations. Jackson, who offered support for Flores on Twitter said that he received bonus payments from Browns' owner Jimmy Haslam.

Haslam denied paying former coach Hue Jackson for losing games and said his one-time employee is only good at “pointing fingers” and needs to accept some blame for his dreadful NFL record. In an exclusive interview with the Knoxville News, Haslam called Jackson’s claims “an absolute falsehood” and said the coach needs to be more accountable for his 3-36-1 record with the Browns.

Jackson has said that he didn’t understand what Cleveland was trying to do during his failed tenure.

As the Guardian reported, Flores' claims his refusal to comply with an agreement to accept money to throw games was the beginning of his end with the Miami Dolphins.