Kansas City Chiefs players respond to Tua Tagovailoa’s injury
By Matt Conner
Several members of the Kansas City Chiefs organization, past and present, had responses to Tua Tagovailoa’s injury on Thursday.
It was already a bit of a surprise for many football fans to see Tua Tagovailoa get the start under center for the Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football in Week 4. After all, he’d suffered a head injury just days before in Week 3, and on a short week, it felt risky to allow him to play against the Cincinnati Bengals on so little rest.
Unfortunately, the worst fears were confirmed on a play that shook everyone in the National Football League.
On a second-quarter sack by Bengals defensive lineman Jacob Tupou, Tagovailoa went down and never returned to the game. It required 10 minutes to remove him via stretcher from the field of play, and that came after his hands obviously seized in an awkward way that signaled another head injury. It was a tragic sight and tough to stomach, especially when seeing replays again and again.
From the moment Tagovailoa went down, social media was buzzing with a wide range of responses—mostly somewhere between concern, anger, and confusion.
Many Kansas City Chiefs players offered up the same general sentiment of prayers or thoughts as the rest of us. After all, none of us have the power to change anything. Given our lack of control, it’s sometimes the best thing we have to express. Several current players reached out with their own prayers for his well-being and healing.
https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1575658365988274176
https://twitter.com/Lammons_1/status/1575664207764557824
https://twitter.com/JaylenWatson12/status/1575659890076684288
https://twitter.com/JustinqReid/status/1575659635021066240
We also saw Twitter posts from former Chiefs who expressed the exact same sentiment.
https://twitter.com/JeffAllen71/status/1575659778776236032
Prayers up for you uce @Tua
— Albert Wilson II (@iThinkIsee12) September 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/SAMIEPARKER/status/1575659624799547393
Former Chiefs lineman Geoff Schwartz was a bit more vulnerable than others in his expression and it’s worth reading these posts to better understand the player perspective.
I normally don’t have much emotion when it comes to injuries. I have a general feeling that I hope each player can return healthy. But I’m upset about this Tua head injury because of what happened last weekend. It’s hard to not tie these together.
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) September 30, 2022
For former Chiefs defender T.J. Barnes, it was a reminder of something he never wanted to witness again.
I remember watching Javid Best body lock up his last year at Cal in 09. Never thought I’d see that again. Prayers up for Tua.
— T.J Barnes Ⓥ (@ILLUMANINETY) September 30, 2022
Meanwhile, some other Chiefs or former Chiefs expressed the concerns and doubts that some of us had as to why Tagovailoa was out there in the first place—or at least the way the injury was handled.
https://twitter.com/Lonnie30johnson/status/1575669273506172929
https://twitter.com/ghost_0836/status/1575694784580096000
Mitchell Schwartz, former right tackle for the Chiefs, had a lot to say that made sense as we all watched the tragic injury unfold.
And look, miss me with the “but the doctors said it was his back!” “Doctors OK’d him!” He banged his head on the ground, got up, grabbed his head and shook it side to side, then stumbled around and couldn’t walk. MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, put him in concussion protocol for the week?!?
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) September 30, 2022
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