MIAMI — The NFL’s chief medical officer said Friday that the league won’t tell the Dolphins when Tua Tagovailoa can return to the field.

In a conference call with several reporters, Allen Sills said the NFL won’t intervene in the decision on when Tagovailoa will return to the field after his Sept. 12 concussion against Buffalo, which was at least the quarterback’s fourth concussion in his life and possibly his fifth.

“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.”

Tagovailoa has consulted “with top experts” around the country, Sills said.

The Dolphins have declined to say when Tagovailoa will return to the field because coach Mike McDaniel has said speculation is counterproductive to Tagovailoa’s recovery.

But ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Tagovailoa has experienced no symptoms and could return as soon as Oct. 27 against Arizona, the first game he’s eligible to play after the required minimum four games on injured reserve.

In line with league policy, Tagovailoa needs authorization from a team doctor and independent neurologist to advance into the final stages of the league’s five-step concussion protocol. Asked what stage Tagovailoa is in, McDaniel said he would explore where his quarterback stands during the team’s bye week.

Sills, who is a neurosurgeon, said no “detailed formula” exists that can assess the likelihood of Tagovailoa sustaining another concussion. But scientific studies have shown that concussions are more likely in the immediate aftermath of one.

“It’s not like we can put in your number of concussions and how long between them and your age and some unusual constant or Avogadro’s number that always seemed to be in freshman chemistry somehow, and come up with a risk,” Sills said, speaking in general, via ESPN.

“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 about 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.”

The NFL says were were 44 concussions in preseason practices and games, a 25 percent drop from 2023.

©2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.