IT WAS GETTING late the night of Sept. 12, and Dr. Julian Bailes had settled in to watch a little football. The renowned neurosurgeon and concussions expert tuned in just as Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained yet another head injury.
There was Tagovailoa, lying on the ground with his arms outstretched and his fingers curled into the fencing response, an involuntary position that occurs after a brain injury. To Bailes, it looked almost like a replay from a previous Thursday night game, Sept. 29, 2022, with Tagovailoa on his back, his fingers splayed in front of his face in another automatic response to a concussion.