Tua Tagovailoa's path to return after concussion: Dolphins QB must go through this five-step NFL protocol

If Tua Tagovailoa wants to return to the field this year after suffering a concussion on Thursday night, he's going to have to go through the NFL's five-step process before he can be even think about being cleared.

For Tua, this could take weeks or even months and that's because this is the third concussion that he's suffered in his NFL career. When a player is trying to return from a concussion, there's no set timetable for when that return might happen. The team's medical staff will take into account the player's concussion history as part of the process for possibly clearing the player for football activities.

Tua actually thought about retiring in April 2023 after suffering two concussions during the 2022 season, so it's impossible to know what his mindset might be about his future after suffering this third concussion in two years. The injury happened during the third quarter of Miami's 31-10 loss to the Bills.

If Tua does want to keep playing, he'll have to go through the league's five-step process, which looks like this :

1. Symptom limited activity

In the first phase, players are basically expected to rest. They're supposed to avoid activities -- both physical and cognitive -- that might aggravate their symptoms. At this point in the recovery, the player can do limited stretching and light aerobic exercises, but that's about it.

2. Aerobic exercise

In phase two of the recovery, players can start going cardio exercises. Stretching and training is also permitted as long as the player is supervised by the team's medical staff. Once this phase is complete, players can start working on balance testing.

3. Football-specific exercise

Once a player gets to the third phase, they can continue all the workouts from the first two phases with one addition: The player is allowed to practice with the team for up to 30 minutes in sport-specific exercises with the team's medical staff monitoring the player closely.

4. Club-based non-contact training drills

At this point, the player can now participate in non-contact football activities like throwing, catching and running. They also can continue to ramp up their exercise and training. The player will also have to undergo neurocognitive and balance testing to prove that they're back to their baseline.

5. Full football activity/clearance

Once a player reaches phase five, this is where they're cleared for a return to the field. However, not only does the player have to be cleared by a team doctor, but he also has to be separately cleared by an Independent Neurological Consultant (INC) who is jointly approved by the NFL and NFLPA. The consultant is someone who is not affiliated with any NFL team.

As we noted at the top, there's no timeline for going through these phases. The player's concussion history and the severity of the concussion are some of the factors that determine when a player might return.

After the game, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel made it clear that he's not thinking about when Tua might be able to return to the field, "Right now it's more about getting a proper procedural evaluation [on Friday] and taking it one day at a time," McDaniel said. "The furthest thing from my mind is what is the timeline. We just need to evaluate and I'm just worried about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are. But we'll get more information [on Friday] and then take it day by day from there."

With Tua, it seems like anything from a few weeks to retirement could be in play. CBS Sports HQ injury expert Marty Jaramillo suggested that Tua could miss eight to 12 weeks due to the apparent severity of his injury (Tua's right arm showed a fencing posture).