MANZIEL OUT OF ACTION
Als QB might be concussed
Whatever truly is wrong with quarterback Johnny Manziel, Mike Sherman said neither he nor the Alouettes organization would ever jeopardize a player’s health by putting him back into a game after he was injured.
“This is near and dear to my heart. I would never, ever jeopardize a player’s health by playing him. It would break my heart if people thought that about me,” the Als head coach told the Montreal Gazette following his daily media scrum. “I will always err on the side of caution.
“I treat him the same way I treat my son,” added Sherman, who recruited the high-school star to Texas A&M while he was coaching the Aggies. “If I thought he was concussed, there’s no way he would have played.”
While attempting to score on a quarterback draw during the third quarter last Saturday, Manziel suffered a serious blow to the head from Ottawa’s Jonathan Rose near the goal line. Manziel played the remainder of the game, although he was generally ineffective from that juncture.
The rookie quarterback missed his second consecutive day of practice on Wednesday and now is highly unlikely to face the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday night. Instead, the Als will rely on Antonio Pipkin, who was released June 19 and returned to the team Aug. 6.
Pipkin will become the fifth different starting quarterback this season, and sixth overall the team has used. Montreal is preparing for its ninth game of 2018. The Als have a CFL-worst 1-7 record and are on a five-game losing streak.
The Als announced Wednesday that Manziel was suffering from symptoms that could be associated with prescription medication he uses for a previously diagnosed medical condition. He has been placed under the league’s concussion protocol.
Earlier this year, Manziel revealed on national television he was diagnosed as bipolar and was on medication. Bipolarism is treated with lithium, a very powerful medication that needs to be closely monitored because it has a narrow therapeutic range. Because of that, anyone taking lithium undergoes regular blood tests. It’s possible Manziel simply is having a reaction to the medication and never was concussed. .
Sherman said Manziel was examined during Saturday ’s game by the team doctor, Vincent Lacroix, an on-field official, plus a CFLdesignated spotter who is present at all games to make certain no concussed player is permitted onto the field. He passed the concussion protocol — as did Als tailback Tyrell Sutton earlier in the game. Sutton’s helmet was jarred loose after a helmet-to-helmet hit from middle-linebacker Avery Williams. Sutton continued playing.
Sherman and Manziel drove back to Montreal after Saturday’s game. He said Manziel was “very coherent,” adding he was fine on Monday while discussing the upcoming game. But Manziel subsequently started suffering from headache and flu-like symptoms, Sherman added.
“We went through the utmost testing and protocol. I talked to John during the game, in the second half, after he assumed the hit,” Sherman said. “If I knew there was anything wrong, absolutely, positively, I’d never put a player in harm’s way, and neither would this organization.
“The doctor looked at him. The spotter looked at him. We dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s. He recited the playbook to us, which isn’t easy. At that point he was ready to go in.”
Sutton said he did not notice a difference in Manziel once the quarterback returned to the game, adding he was calling plays in the huddle without hesitation.
“He seemed fine, but you never know about these things. They’re very tricky,” Sutton said. “Whatever’s going on with him, just get healthy. He looked fine to me, but things can happen later on when you incur a type of hit like that.”
Sutton wouldn’t comment on the legality of the hit he took, instead asking whether any player had been fined. Sutton already has been fined this season for a play on which he might have led with his head. But he believes the play was legal and it was his shoulder, not the head.
“There are no rules to hitting running backs high or low. You take them as they come,” he said.
While Manziel officially still hasn’t been ruled out of this week’s game, he won’t play unless he practises on Thursday, Sherman said. That means, in all likelihood, Pipkin becomes the next Als quarterback of record.
Pipkin, at least, was with the team throughout training camp along with much of last season. He played briefly in the 2017 season finale at Hamilton, but completed only two of nine passes for 14 yards. Sherman said he was a victim of the numbers game last June.
“Obviously it’s not the optimum of conditions. You deal with the card you’re dealt at that time,” Sherman said. “He’s been here before and is familiar with the terminology.
“Would I have more comfort if he’d been here six weeks consecutively? Yes, but he hasn’t.
“Football’s a game of injuries. How you manage them determines your success.”