Tua Tagovailoa’s family accompanied him into the examination room.

The Miami Dolphins quarterback subsequently joined his teammates in the locker room after they all combined for a 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, with the franchise wondering how much more than just a game they had lost that night.

At short notice, the Dolphins were forced to lose Tagovailoa for the final 19 minutes and 36 seconds of the game due to the third diagnosed concussion of his career.

But could his recent football shock mean he will be out for even longer?

The Dolphins were worried – about the father, husband and teammate whose humanity overwhelmed them and whose performance on Thursday took a back seat.

“I’m just worried about the man,” said Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. “I was just worried about my husband. You never want to experience something like that. At least you hope so.”

In the final five minutes of the third quarter, the Dolphins were facing a fourth-and-4 when Tagovailoa charged forward and hit a quarterback keeper, then slammed his head into Bills safety Damar Hamlin and fell to the ground from the force of the collision.

Tagovailoa clenched his arm horizontally and apparently reacted with a fencing maneuver related to a traumatic brain injury.

He limped off the field and back to the locker room, where he was taken out of the game just minutes later due to a concussion.

Opposing quarterback Josh Allen said, “You can’t help but feel sorry for him.”

“He’s a great football player, but he’s an even greater human being,” Allen said on Amazon Prime’s postgame show. “He’s one of the best people on the planet. I have a lot of love for him, pray for him and his family, and hope everything is OK.”

“It’s tough, man. This game of football we play has its ups and its downs – and this is definitely one of its lows.”

Hamlin, who himself experienced a serious medical incident on the field, also showed his support for Tagovailoa on social media.

On Thursday, Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion for the third time in his career. He has already suffered two concussions in 2022, leading him to consider retirement in the offseason.

Tagovailoa did not comment publicly while in concussion protocol. McDaniel was asked if it was safe for his quarterback to continue playing football.

“I think that’s from a medical standpoint – I don’t approach things that I have far less expertise in,” said a visibly shaken McDaniel. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to predict things that I don’t know in my non-specialized area. We’ll have more information tomorrow on where Tua is. He’ll be able to spend a lot of time being examined.”

“Then we will have discussions and proceed accordingly.”

McDaniel declined to give a timetable for Tagovailoa’s recovery, saying he would make a “proper assessment of the process” on Friday and “take it day by day from there.”

The coach, whom Tagovailoa credits with reviving his football career after an initial stint under Brian Flores, said he spoke with his quarterback first on the field and later in the locker room. Tagovailoa was in “good spirits,” McDaniel said, but there were still concerns.

McDaniel worries about Tagovailoa as he deals with his latest scare.

And Tagovailoa, McDaniel said, was worried about his teammates and was “trying to keep his head up.”

“I think when something happens to an individual and you see him respond by caring about his teammates, that tells you everything about the type of person he is,” McDaniel said.

“He knows what he means to this team and he’s very conscious of that because he knows a lot of guys are worried.

“Just another example of his character and leadership.”