Miami didn’t follow concussion protocol
But league says no penalties planned
MIAMI — The NFL’s concussion protocol wasn’t strictly followed when Miami Dolphins QB Matt Moore was treated for a hit to the chin and mouth in a first-round playoff game, the league said Wednesday.
Because Moore was bleeding from the mouth, he was allowed to return to the game too quickly at Pittsburgh, the league said in a statement. The determination was made after the NFL and the NFL Players Association reviewed the case.
No disciplinary action against the Dolphins will be taken, but their staff must undergo a full review of the protocol, and future deviation may lead to fines against the team, the NFL said. There is no indication competitive issues had an impact on the care Moore received, nor did he demonstrate any concussion symptoms during or following the game, the league said.
On Jan. 8, Moore was hit in the second quarter as he threw a pass, and the play drew a roughing-the-passer penalty on Pittsburgh’s Bud Dupree. The Dolphins’ medical staff attended to Moore on the field, and he was evaluated on the sideline by an independent neurological consultant and team physician before returning to the game.
Moore missed only one play in Miami’s 30-12 loss. He returned to the game four minutes after the hit, and two minutes after he went to the sideline. Following the game, Moore said he felt fine when he returned to the field.
The NFL determined the Dolphins’ doctor took appropriate steps to promptly and fully involve an unaffiliated neuro-trauma consultant in the evaluation of Moore, and they jointly cleared him to return to the game. But they failed to recognize Moore presented a documented symptom — bleeding from the mouth — that required further evaluation.
MORE DOLPHINS: Miami still hasn’t determined whether first-team quarterback Ryan Tannehill needs surgery to repair his sprained left knee, football operations chief Mike Tannenbaum said Wednesday.
Tannehill was hurt Dec. 11 and missed the final four games of the season, and medical personnel are still assessing his ACL and MCL sprain.
“We just want to take the benefit of time and be thorough in our process, knowing that we have no more games to play, to try to get as much information as we can and make the best decision,” said Tannenbaum,
who was in Mobile for the Senior Bowl.
SUPER OFFICIALS: Referee Carl Cheffers will lead the crew of game officials selected to work the Super Bowl.
The other members of the officiating crew for the game Feb. 5 at NRG Stadium in Houston are Dan Ferrell (umpire), Kent Payne (head linesman), Jeff Seeman (line judge), Doug Rosenbaum (field judge), Dyrol Prioleau (side judge), and Todd Prukop (back judge).
Cheffers is in his 17th season as an NFL game official.
SEAHAWKS: Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman told ESPN on Wednesday morning that a proposed penalty for the team for not disclosing his lateseason knee injury is “foolishness” and that he thinks the NFL is being “a little too hard on our team for no reason.”
ESPN reported last week that the NFL could consider elevating what is already a loss of a fifth-round pick for violations regarding offseason workouts into a second-rounder for not disclosing a knee injury that Sherman played through the second half of the season.
Sherman is one of seven Seahawks playing in the Pro Bowl Sunday in Orlando, Fla., and he talked to ESPN after what was the first practice for that game. That Sherman is playing in the game will undoubtedly be part of Seattle’s defense to the NFL for why it doesn’t deserve any additional penalty. RAVENS: Baltimore executive Eric DeCosta, 45, won’t be interviewing for the Indianapolis Colts’ GM opening.
The Colts put out a list of six executives the organization will interview for its vacancy and DeCosta was not included. What isn’t clear is whether DeCosta turned down an opportunity to interview or the Colts never officially asked for permission to interview Ozzie Newsome’s longtime lieutenant. OBITUARY: Former Notre Dame and Washington Redskins quarterback Ralph Guglielmi, 83, has died.
Gloria Braswell with the Padgett Funeral Home in Wallace, N.C., said Guglielmi died Monday. The cause of death was not made public.
Guglielmi was a consensus All-American as a senior in 1954 and also placed fourth in Heisman Trophy voting that year. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
The Redskins drafted him in 1955 with the third overall pick, and he played a total of seven seasons with Washington, the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.