Miami Dolphins wide Grant DuBose remains hospitalized in Houston after taking a scary hit during an NFL game against the Texans on Sunday. But Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel had a hopeful news to share after the game, saying the team had received “positive feedback” from tests on the former Alabama high school standout.
DuBose got hurt in the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 20-12 loss when he took a helmet-to-helmet hit from safety Caden Bullock while trying to catch a pass on a slant pattern. While the officials flagged Bullock for unnecessary roughness, DuBose lay motionless on the turf at NRG Stadium.
The Dolphins’ medical personnel worked on DuBose for more than 10 minutes before moving him to a backboard and then a stretcher to leave the field. By that time, they had cut off DuBose’s shirt to remove his shoulder pads and unscrewed his face mask to take off his helmet to put on a neck brace.
While DuBose was being treated, his teammates gathered in a large circle for prayer.
“It was scary, man,” Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill said after the game. “It’s scary just to be on the field seeing it and actually seeing one of your brothers land the way he landed. It’s scary, man. …
“We know Grant’s a soldier. We all prayed for him as a team. The word is he’s in good spirits right now. He’s moving, so that’s all that matters, man.”
Shortly after DuBose left the field, the Dolphins announced he had “been ruled out with a head injury. He is in stable condition and being taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.”
DuBose was taken to Hermann Memorial-Texas Medical Center, which is about 3 miles from the stadium in Houston.
After the game, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he had put DuBose in a bad spot.
“I’m my toughest critic when it comes to ball placement when it comes to knowing where to go with the ball and all of that,” Tagovailoa said, “and I just feel bad that I even put him in that situation to have gotten hit. It was tough to move on after that happened. I heard some good news that he’s doing well, he’s recovering.”
Tagovailoa missed five games in the 2022 season because of two concussions and spent four games this season on injured reserve after sustaining another concussion.
“We all know I’ve gone through something very similar, and that’s no fun,” Tagovailoa said “You never want to be put in any of those situations, but you also understand that this is a physical sport, it’s a contact sport, and again I just think of what I could have done to have not put Grant in that situation.”
Like Tagovailoa, DuBose also had gotten hurt in Miami’s second game of the 2024 season. One week after making his NFL regular-season debut, DuBose sustained a shoulder injury that sent him to injured reserve for 11 games.
On Saturday, the Dolphins restored DuBose to their active roster, and they needed him on Sunday. Miami waived three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Friday, and was playing without wide receiver Jaylen Waddle on Sunday when DuBose got hurt. Waddle had left the contest with a knee injury late in the first half.
DuBose got his second NFL reception in Sunday’s game.
