Bill Belichick Speaks on How He Deals With Concussion Checks Amid Tua Controversy

Leave it to Bill Belichick.

New England Patriots legendary coach has said plenty of times throughout his coaching career that he is not a doctor and does not dabble in diagnosing injuries, in fact he just said that last week about Mac Jones injury, but there is apparently at least one scenario in which the future Hall of Fame coach does kind of play a Doctor. The NFL is dealing with another controversy, shocker, but the backlash this time comes after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion on Thursday night. Tagovailoa played in the game just days after he took a nasty hit and appeared extremely wobbly on his feet in Miami’s previous game.

Doctors said Tagovailoa only suffered a back injury and cleared him to return in that contest. During Belichick’s weekly appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” the Pats head coach was asked if he has ever removed a player from a game for concussion symptoms or refused to let a player go back in even after they were cleared. He said that has “absolutely” happened.

“Even if the medical people were to clear a player, we still go through a coaching clearance to make sure that he’s ready to play football, not just medically cleared,” Belichick said.

It's a #Patriots Monday here at @WEEI and Bill Belichick joined the show giving us insight into his handling of players displaying concussion symptoms. #ForeverNE pic.twitter.com/O2OWyzTeLO

— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) October 3, 2022

Tough to believe Belichick cares more about a player’s health than winning a football game but you have to assume he’s not lying.

The NFL has since made changes to its concussion protocol in the wake of the Tagovailoa situation.

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