As Chris Olave was carted off the field strapped to a backboard in Charlotte, anyone watching could understand why football would not be entering the conversation with him for some time.
That's been the case this week, with interim head coach Darren Rizzi indicating that Olave would be meeting with specialists to decide the best course of action after his 4th diagnosed NFL concussion and second in less than a month.
"He wants to go thoroughly through the process and make sure he’s making the best decision from Chris Olave," Rizzi said. "I think we’ll remove football from that equation in the beginning of it and what’s the best decision for the person and so listen, my conversations with him and our medical staff have been we’re gonna be kind of thorough, he’s gonna be thorough and his family is going to be thorough with the process and I full support that."
The scary hit occurred as the Saints were driving into Panthers territory in the first quarter with a Derek Carr pass sailing high over Olave's hands before a head-to-head hit from safety Xavier Woods. Olave briefly lost consciousness on the field and was taken to an area hospital for further evaluation where all tests came back positively.
Olave was back at the stadium prior to the end of the game and traveled home with the team.
Rizzi declined comment on whether Olave would be a candidate to land on injured reserve. He suffered his initial concussion this year early in a loss to the Bucs in Week 6 and was out for the following week.
"I don’t think we’ve gotten to that point yet, though … listen, everything is on the table," Rizzi said. "I can’t sit here and tell you it’s not, but I can’t sit here and tell you we’ve even broached that yet.”
The hit was flagged in the game and will likely draw a significant fine from the league. The Saints interim head coach was asked whether he thought the hit should've merited an ejection, but he opted not to make waves three days into his head coaching tenure.
"I’ve got to be honest with you, sometimes I don’t understand it, either, the ejection part of it, the fine part of it, all that kind of stuff. I’m gonna pass on my opinion there, because I don’t think it’s gonna go down a good road," Rizzi said, before adding: "That was major self control right there."
The Saints were already without WR Rashid Shaheed, who is on injured reserve after meniscus surgery, as well as rookie Bub Means due to an ankle sprain. Veteran Cedrick Wilson is nursing a shoulder injury suffered during the game and missed the Saints initial practice ahead of Week 10. The team will likely be relying on UDFA Mason Tipton and newcomer Marquez Valdes-Scantling when they host the Falcons in Week 10.
