The NFL has stepped up investigations into concussions as a result of the Tua Tagovailoa case. It’s having an impact, but it may not be all there is. Commentary.

The number of concussions in the NFL has increased. And that’s good news.

Yes, read that right.

Good because the NFL is policing more tightly after Tua Tagovailoa’s injury in Week 4 of the Regular Season – and the new system is clearly taking hold.

Tua Tagovailoa: Tragic, but no alternative

Because it’s not as if the game has become harder or more brutal. The Concussion Protocol hurdles have been raised. Where in the past a player would have been waved through and cleared to play again, today they are taken out of circulation. For Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa, this was tragic from a sporting point of view after his second concussion, but for health reasons there was no alternative.

The earlier concussions are detected and the tighter the limits are set for checks, the better it is for the players. They will be much better protected that way.

It is still impossible to completely prevent head injuries in a full-contact – or rather collision – sport like American football, and that will remain the case.

But what is essential is that positive developments are used to continue. To continue to search for improvements, to educate. The special quarterback helmet that is to be introduced is one such step.

Stagnation is regression

Stagnation is regression. That’s what you have to keep in mind. So that the new thinking that takes hold also remains sustainable.

Because the past has shown that the issue of head injuries was not always a foregone conclusion and anything but self-evident, that a lot was glossed over or not taken seriously enough, such as with the brain disease CTE.

But it’s not just the people in charge who are called upon to act, but also players and coaches, because all too often unreason still reigns supreme when it comes to head injuries. But they are not to be trifled with.

And that is why the increased numbers are of course not good news, but an alarm signal.

One that the NFL must listen to.