A single moment that almost went unnoticed if not for the efforts of a concerned teammate in Monday night’s Patriots-Cardinals game is now at the center of an NFLPA investigation in what is an alarming failure in a game with a new system designed to prevent what happened.
According to NFL Media, the NFLPA is launching an investigation into the concussion DeVante Parker suffered in the first quarter and why it didn’t prompt an immediate stop to play. Every NFL game is assigned an independent group of athletic trainers who have the power to stop a game if they believe a player has suffered head trauma or an injury which may lead to a concussion. At that point a player is led from the field where an exam is performed to gauge whether or not a player may have been concussed or be suffering from concussion-like symptoms. The protocol behind this was changed this season following the injury Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa received in Week 3 at home against Buffalo, which many believed was a head injury, followed by the concussion he received against Cincinnati just four days later on Thursday Night Football in Cincinnati.
Dizzy and unstable following his second reception of the game Monday night, Parker had trouble getting to his feet, let alone maintaining balance when lining up for the next play. Fellow receiver Nelson Agholor did the job the spotters should have done, signaling to the officials or anyone who would notice that Parker appeared affected by the force of the previous play. A challenge flag from Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury ultimately stopped play, not the spotter who may or may not have buzzed for a halt in play but not in time. At this point Parker was removed, later being declared out of the game with a head injury.
Agholor was roundly praised on social and traditional media for his efforts to assist his teammate.
Parker was none too pleased with the spotter’s failure to call for a timeout and have him removed from the game.
The Tagovailoa situation is exactly what the NFL does not want to see happen again and the new protocols were set in place to prevent just this kind of incident. Fortunately Parker did not play more or injure himself further, though no thanks to the people the league is paying to stop just a scenario.
We’ll know more about Parker’s situation when the first injury report comes out midweek in advance of Sunday’s game in Las Vegas against the Raiders. The Patriots remain out west this week to lessen the travel burden between games. No word yet as to when to expect a conclusion following the NFL and NFLPA’s investigation.
