HOUSTON — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Grant DuBose is being taken to a hospital after suffering a head injury following a helmet-to-helmet hit that left him motionless during Sunday’s 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans.
The Dolphins said he is in stable condition and is getting further evaluation.
DuBose did not move after the hit by Texans safety Calen Bullock and received medical attention for roughly 11 minutes before being loaded onto a stretcher and briskly wheeled off the field. During that time, medical staff removed his facemask and helmet and eventually appeared to cut off his jersey.
For several minutes, DuBose was shirtless as he continued to receive medical care. The 23-year-old did not appear to move at any point during the process, was placed on a spine board with his arms and legs strapped down, and he was wearing a neck brace when he was taken off the field.
“Very unfortunate. Very tough to have seen live,” Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said following the game. “I’m my toughest critic when it comes to ball placement. … 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.”
At one point while DuBose was down, the Dolphins moved away from him and into a circle where they kneeled and appeared to be praying. Miami coach Mike McDaniel and Houston coach DeMeco Ryans embraced at one point while he was still on the field.
Teammate Tyreek Hill said after the game that DuBose was in “good spirits right now,” that “he’s moving … and that’s all that matters.”
“It was scary,” Hill said. “Just being on the field, seeing it, and then actually seeing one of your brothers laying the way he was laying, it’s scary. People don’t understand the sacrifice that we have to make to play this game, that we put out bodies through.”
Bullock was flagged for unnecessary roughness for hitting a defenseless receiver on the play.
It was DuBose’s first game since Week 2, when he was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. This is his first season with the Dolphins, who claimed him off waivers in August.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
