Athens football coach speaks of safety on the field after Tagovailoa injury

Former University of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered another concussion Thursday night when his team, the Miami Dolphins, took on the Buffalo Bills.

Tagovaila’s latest injury has many wondering about the safety of football players, especially as we head out to high school games tonight.

Athens has a by-week this week, but Coach Cody Gross says safety is a priority year-round, at practice and games.

He says safety precautions have improved a lot since he played football. His players now use gardian caps. Those are an extra layer of padding put on top of their helmets in practice just to add a little more protection.

Gross also says that coaches go through a lot of training on concussion protocol. He also says he makes sure his players are training the right muscle groups to prevent injuries in the off-season.

“Everything we do has something to do with football. I also think the training we do year-round as far as strength and conditioning. we do a lot to strengthen our neck, you know neck strength has a whole lot to do with that. There are so many procedures we put in place as well as the awareness as well as the education we receive as coaches,” said Gross.

As of right now, there is no timeline as to when Tagovailoa will make his return to the NFL field.