Scary moment
Jets rook Mauldin concussed, but has feeling in extremities
Lorenzo Mauldin had described his NFL debut as a “fantasy come true.”
For a few hours Sunday it seemed like his worst nightmare.
The wellliked and gregarious Jets rookie linebacker was carried off on a stretcher in the fourth quarter of the team’s seasonopening 3110 win over the Browns with what was initially termed as head and neck injuries. Mauldin was carted off on a spinal board, his legs and arms strapped down.
“He had very little [movement] from what I saw,” said coach Todd Bowles. But good news would follow. On Sunday night the team announced Mauldin suffered a concussion and no neck injury, and that he has feeling in all of his extremities. He was hospitalized overnight for further evaluation, the team said.
After the game, Bowles had said he was “very concerned” about the team’s thirdround pick out of Louisville, while running back Chris Ivory said he noticed Mauldin’s eyes rolling back into his head and then shutting as he lay on the turf.
“When a guy gets carted off and they tape him down, you worry about him,” Bowles said.
With 13:05 left in the game, defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson sacked Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel and the ball came loose. Mauldin dove for the ball, which was later picked up by cornerback Darrelle Revis. There appeared to be a pileup with Mauldin in the middle of it. He got up and attempted to return to the sideline, but collapsed to the turf, facefirst, like he was shoved from behind.
“It just looked like his eyes kind of rolled into the back of his head,” Ivory said. “Eyes closed. He didn’t look to be doing so good at that time.”
The Jets trainers raced out onto the field to tend to Mauldin. Concerned teammates looked on. MetLife Stadium turned into a library, completely silent.
“I was really scared,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. “I saw him get up and try to take a couple of steps and he just collapsed right in front of me. It was scary.”
“It’s a dangerous football game,” said safety Calvin Pryor, Mauldin’s college teammate at Louisville. “Any time something like that happens, I always think that could’ve been me. I’m just praying for the best at this moment.”
Such an incident has happened with the Jets before. In 1992, defensive lineman Dennis Byrd was paralyzed during a game against the Chiefs after running into teammate Scott Mersereau while rushing the passer. Byrd later regained the ability to walk.
Mauldin is a popular player with the Jets and has an inspirational story. He bounced around 16 different foster homes as a child growing up in Atlanta, his birth parents spending most of his young life in and out of jail. On Friday, he said he always dreamed of playing in the NFL one day while watching it religiously as a kid, and promised to make an immediate impact.
“That’s the dark side of the league, man,” offensive guard Willie Colon said. “We love the sport. We play so hard. When things like that happen, it puts things in perspective that you can’t take any snaps for granted.
“We’re praying for Mauldin.”