2:22 p.m. ET
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Marcel Louis-Jacques ESPN
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is in the concussion protocol and has been ruled out against the New York Jets after leaving the game in the first quarter.
Bridgewater entered the protocol after the ATC spotter in the stands declared him “banned” after taking a hit on the Dolphins’ opening drive, per the NFL’s modified concussion protocol . Bridgewater passed his concussion evaluation, according to a source, but the ATC spotter in the stand believed he saw Bridgewater stumble, causing the new ataxia in addition to the protocol’s “failure” symptoms.
The Dolphins said Bridgewater also had an elbow injury.
Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead has also been ruled out for the remainder of the game after aggravating a toe injury that listed him as questionable for Sunday’s contest.
Bridgewater was hit while attempting a pass on the Dolphins’ first offensive play of the game, when Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner unblocked him. The pass fell incomplete but was ruled intentionally grounded in the end zone, resulting in a safety. Bridgewater was rushed to the medical tent before being escorted to the locker room by an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant for a concussion evaluation.
He was ruled out after about 40 minutes in the dressing room. New seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson is the only quarterback left on the Dolphins’ active roster.
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Bridgewater was making his first start of the season in place of Tua Tagovailoa, who is in the concussion protocol after suffering a concussion during Miami’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4. The Dolphins have not publicly established a timetable for Tagovailoa’s return, but he did not travel to New York with the team and was not placed on injured reserve.
Wide receiver Cedrick Wilson is the Dolphins’ emergency quarterback.
The NFL recently amended its concussion protocol after a nearly two-week joint investigation with the NFL Players Association into the implementation of the protocol following an incident involving Tagovailoa. During the Dolphins’ game against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 25, Tagovailoa hit his head on the ground and stumbled as he tried to return to the huddle. The stumble was considered a sign of gross motor instability, which is one of the “no-go” symptoms in the protocol that requires a player to be removed from a game without the possibility of return.
Tagovailoa was immediately taken to the locker room for a concussion evaluation, but informed both the team doctor and an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant hired jointly by the NFL and the NFLPA that a back and ankle injury made him stumble; the joint investigation found that Tagovailoa had previously reported both injuries before hitting his head on the ground.
Once his observed instability was determined not to be neurologically caused, Tagovailoa passed his evaluation and was cleared to return to play. However, neither the team doctor nor the neurotrauma consultant examined his back during the assessment, “but relied on the previous examination carried out by other members of the medical staff”. The NFLPA exercised its right to fire the neurotrauma consultant who performed Tagovailoa’s initial evaluation after the union found he made “several errors” during the process, beyond following the step-by-step process protocol step, multiple sources told ESPN.
Both sides agreed Saturday to amend the protocol, adding ataxia to the list of “no-go” symptoms. The changes were implemented immediately before Sunday’s games began.
“‘Ataxia’ is defined as an abnormality of balance/stability, motor coordination or speech dysfunction caused by a neurological problem,” the NFL and NFLPA said in a joint statement. “In other words, if a player is diagnosed with ‘ataxia’ by any club or neutral physician involved in the application of the concussion protocol, he will be prohibited from returning to the game and will receive the follow-up care required by the protocol.”