Bengals QB Joe Burrow on concussions: 'I've been hit and forgot the rest of the game'

The other quarterback on the field when Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins suffered a concussion, Bengals passer Joe Burrow, acknowledged that head trauma is part of professional football and even indicated that he has had entire halves of games erased from his memory.

In an appearance on the the "Colin Cowherd Podcast" that published Wednesday, Burrow, 25,  expounded on his personal experience with concussions, saying he has sustained at least one.

"It's hard to say," Burrow said when asked what it felt like. "You start to ring a little bit. I've never had any lasting effects from a concussion. I've been hit and forgot the rest of the game before. That has happened a couple of times. But I've never had one where I have headaches for a week or where I have symptoms where I have headaches for like a week.

"I've had some (hits) where I don't remember the second half or I don't remember the entire game or I know I got a little dizzy at one point. But nothing long-lasting."

Burrow said he suspects "everybody has (had a concussion) that plays this game."

Tagovailoa sustained his head injury during Thursday night's 27-15 Bengals victory and came just four days after he may have suffered another, in a 21-19 Dolphins victory against the Bills. In that game, Tagovailoa was brought down and stumbled as he got up to approach the offensive huddle for the next play. Tagovailoa was checked for a concussion but passed protocol and was re-inserted into the game. After the game, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins cited a back injury for his instability that caused him to stumble.

Then, during the second quarter of the Bengals game, Tagovailoa was once again brought down and had his helmet bounce off the field. He was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center but was released later that night and flew back with the team to Miami.

The NFL Players Association opened an investigation to look into Miami's handling of Tagovailoa's injury. On Saturday, with the report still not finalized, the union fired he unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was involved in the matter.

"You can make all the rules you want to make the game as safe as you possibly can but there's an inherent risk and danger with the game of football," Burrow said. "You have 300-pound men running 20 miles an hour trying to take your head off while you're standing still, trying to ignore it and find receivers that are open and then sometimes you have to go run to try and get a first down. ... It's part of the game, I think. Part of what we signed up for.

"You're going to have head injuries. You're going to tear your ACL. You're going to break your arm. That's the game that we play. That's the life that we live. And we get paid handsomely for it. I think going into every game, we know what we're getting ourselves into."

Tagovailoa's injury happened just before halftime, resulting in a lengthy stoppage as medical staffers treated him.

"I mean, it's scary," Burrow said. "Everybody knows the profession that we do, it's a dangerous game and that's always a possibility. And when it happens, you collectively hold your breath."

Burrow completed 20-of-31 passes in the victory for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns.

On Monday, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel ruled Tagovailoa out for Miami's Week 5 game against the New York Jets.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bengals' Joe Burrow admits he has forgotten entire halves after hits