NFLPA on Tua Tagovailoa Injury: 'We Will Pursue Every Legal Option' for Player Safety

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said the union will consider legal remedies as it investigates whether Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should have played in Thursday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Smith sent a statement to two members of the Amazon broadcast team, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman, after Tagovailoa was taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to the hospital for evaluation of head and neck injuries, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

"We insisted on these rules to avoid exactly this scenario," Smith said. "We will pursue every legal option, including making referrals against the doctors to licensing agencies and the team that is obligated to keep our players safe."

The NFLPA previously launched an investigation into whether Tagovailoa should have returned to Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills after going through concussion protocol.

Tagovailoa stumbled to his feet and struggled to maintain balance after hitting his head on the field during the Week 3 game against Buffalo.

He briefly left the contest but returned after halftime. NFL vice president of communications Jeff Miller said Wednesday the league was confident proper protocols were followed.

"Every indication from our perspective is that it was [followed]," Miller said. "I know that the player, the coach and others have spoken to this."

Chris Nowinski, the CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said hours before Thursday's kickoff the Dolphins quarterback shouldn't be allowed to play:

Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. @ChrisNowinski1

If Tua takes the field tonight, it's a massive step back for #concussion care in the NFL.

If he has a 2nd concussion that destroys his season or career, everyone involved will be sued & should lose their jobs, coaches included. We all saw it, even they must know this isn't right https://t.co/vxpaOif5rh

Tagovailoa remained down for several minutes after a hard tackle Thursday night, leading to outrage on social media about how his situation was handled.

The Dolphins later announced he was expected to travel with the team back to Miami after being discharged from the hospital:

Miami Dolphins @MiamiDolphins

QB Tua Tagovailoa is expected to be discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and will fly home with the team tonight.

Miami has announced no further updates about his status as of Friday morning.

The NFLPA didn't provide a timetable for its investigation into the Dolphins' handling of last week's concussion protocol enforcement.

Their next game is scheduled for Oct. 9 against the New York Jets.