In a teleconference held Friday, NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills stated that the league will not interfere with Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his doctors' selection of a return date.
The league will also not determine when Tagovailoa can return to the game.
Tagovailoa's latest concussion, during a Week 2 game with the Buffalo Bills, landed him on injured reserve on September 17th.
It was the third concussion he's suffered in his NFL career.
Sills added that Tagovailoa is "seeing top experts" around the United States to get different opinions.
"Patient autonomy and medical decision-making really matters," Sills said. "And I think that's what we have to recognize goes on with our concussion protocol as well. Ultimately when patients make decisions about considering their careers, it has to reflect that autonomy that's generated from discussions with medical experts giving them best medical advice."
Ultimately when patients make decisions about considering their careers, it has to reflect that autonomy that's generated from discussions with medical experts giving them best medical advice.
- Dr. Allen Sills, CMO of the NFL
Sills, a trained neurosurgeon, also said it is impossible to predict future concussions for any player, including Tagovailoa.
"It's not like we can put in your number of concussions and how long between them and your age and some unusual constant...and come up with a risk," Sills said, "It just doesn't work that way. So what we end up having to do is look at the totality of the patient's experience, how many concussions, the interval between those concussions, some duration of symptoms after each concussion, and then very much the patient's voice about where they are in their journey, their career, their age and things of that nature.
"And from that, we try as medical professionals to provide our best guess. But that's really what it is, is a guess at what is someone's future risk of concussion."