AP source: Tagovailoa, Bridgewater out of protocols

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater have completed all of the return-to-play steps required by the NFL and are no longer in the league’s recently revised concussion protocols, a person with knowledge of the decisions said Saturday. But Tagovailoa getting cleared puts him on track to return for Miami’s Oct. 22 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers — the game where the Dolphins will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of their 1972 perfect season. An unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant tasked with working the Bills game, who has since been terminated from that position following a brief investigation, found no head injury and allowed Tagovailoa to resume playing. That decision, combined with the scene of Tagovailoa on the ground in Cincinnati days later, sparked quick and significant changes to the concussion protocols by the NFL and the NFL Players Association.