No easy answers for NFL on concussions

IRVING, Texas – Fix the NFL’s concussion problem! Talk’s cheap. Blow up the whole flippin’ protocol and set up a program and guidelines that will truly make the game safer.

It’s easy to say.

But in this game, massive men slam their bodies into each other (some of them moving at the speed of worldclass sprinters). Many players describe this game as “a car wreck on every play.”

There’s nothing safe about football in its current form. Concussions are going to happen.

The league’s medical experts can conduct studies on brain injuries, which can have longer lasting effects than a torn ACL or broken leg. Executives can outlaw violent hits. But expectations for a 100% foolproof concussion protocol seem unrealistic.

Sunday’s handling of Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage served as a chilling reminder of just how dangerous the game is. It also served as a sobering reminder that everybody — the NFL, teams, coaches, medical staffs and players — has to do a better job on their respective fronts.

We shouldn’t have seen Savage going back into the game a short time after he was twitching on the ground. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson shouldn’t have taken a blow to the chin in Week 10 and then found a way back onto the field only seconds later before team and independent medical personnel could administer proper tests to identify concussion symptoms.

“There were some mistakes made,” Giants owner John Mara said on Wednesday after sitting in a session where members of the NFL health and safety advisory committee discussed for 90 minutes the details of both the ongoing investigations into the handling of the Wilson and Savage concussion incidents.

And San Francisco 49ers co-chairman John York described such “breakdowns,” as Mara also called them, troubling.

“We have numerous meetings to go over the protocol with everybody involved,” York told USA TODAY after the meetings concluded. “I think we have gotten stronger. But it’s devastating and embarrassing that — like those cases — it doesn’t work perfectly, even though it does on almost every case. This year we have seen 502 concussion evaluations — not concussions, but evaluations for them — and those two are the only two that were mishandled.”

But those are two too many, York said.

The owners and the league want to get this right. The NFL has dedicated millions of dollars to both studying head trauma and finding ways to limit concussions and better treat players who have sustained them. The current protocol was designed with four years of research as the foundation. The quest for improvement remains ongoing.

According to York, all parties involved are steadily becoming more educated on concussions, which can occur in a variety of ways.

But it seems improvements in detection and monitoring aren’t arriving quickly enough.

If a fan watching on TV can observe Savage twitching, how can the quarterback be allowed to continue playing?

The booth spotter (each team has one assigned) doesn’t have access to all the television replays that fans do at home, but they should. Time is also an issue, though. The spotter initially is watching action down on the field, but then turns to the screen and quickly has to cut clips of injury plays and send them down to the sideline to the team’s medical staff. Replays can go missed, particularly because there might have been another player injured on the same play, York pointed out. The camera initially focused on the hurt defensive lineman and shortly after moved to Savage.

Should each team have two spotters assigned: one watching real-time action and the other following television replays? Sounds smart. Should there be a second sideline spotter on each sideline? An additional trainer to ensure a player doesn’t slip off and back onto the field, like Wilson did? Why not?

But players also must share some of the responsibility, as should coaches.

The natural player inclination in this tough man’s game is to “shake it off ” and keep rolling. Wins, jobs and money are on the line. But the mind-set has to change. Players must be more honest with how they are feeling. However, in some cases, a player isn’t aware things aren’t right, and that’s where they need help from their coaches, trainers and the independent spotters.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien said he didn’t think Savage looked right upon his return to action, so he asked doctors to check the quarterback again. But it shouldn’t have taken a second look. Yes, concussion symptoms can take minutes, hours or even a day to hit. Perhaps the protocol should expand to restricting any player checked for a concussion to sit out a more extensive period of time. A quarter? A half? The rest of the game?

Such discussions — along with the search for new detection technology and improved equipment — remain ongoing, York says. But the cultivation and implementation of a near-perfect protocol will take more time and a collective effort.

“We don’t want any concussions, but there are concussions,” York said. “It’s making sure they are handled properly. We’re trying to get it right.”

TIM WARNER/GETTY IMAGES Only after returning for another series after an initial sideline check was Tom Savage pulled from the game.