Concussions have been a huge topic of conversation over the past week in the NFL. With the scary injury to Tua Tagovailoa on Thursday night, there has been much discussion of why he was even allowed to play in that game. On Sunday, he was clearly staggering around after banging his head on the turf but came back into the game. The question became what the NFL would do about this situation. The answer came Saturday as the NFL unveiled new concussion protocol.
NFL New Concussion Protocol
NFLPA and NFL soon are expected to agree to new protocols in which any time any player demonstrates any instability, he is not allowed to return to the game. The rule could go into effect as early as week 5.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2022
The current rules allow a player to come back into the game if they pass the concussion test. A third party doctor is on hand to administer the test so there is ideally no bias. The problem with this protocol was on display Sunday. Tagovailoa was clearly not right but the team followed the protocol to get him back into the game. The NFL is looking to stop this from happening ever again. Basically the big change is that if a player is unstable or, as the new protocol says, having ‘Gross Motor Instability’, that player will not return to the game. There is no wiggle room. Have a head injury? You are pretty much out for the game.
A Good Change
The video from Thursday night was scary. It is not something that you want to see on a football field. The NFL has spent a lot of resources trying to crack down on head injuries. They have tried new helmets and made rules that punish players who go for the head. Players have started skipping years or retiring early because of head injuries. All of this has been good overall but it clearly was not enough. The NFL does not want another situation like the one on Thursday night to happen. Fans don’t want it either. It was not fun to watch that happen to another human being. The new concussion protocol that the NFL is putting in is a good change.
The new protocol will not go into effect until week 5 officially but teams will be closely watching players this weekend. Only time will tell whether these new protocols will help player safety but it seems like a good change.
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