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Chiefs and concussion protocol


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Has anyone noticed that it seems every time a chiefs player gets a concussion, they end up missing AT LEAST one game, while it seems every other team has their concussed players back on the field within a day or two?  DAT is getting ready to miss his 3rd game, Abdullah his 2nd, and nearly a week later DeVito hasn't been cleared from his concussion. 

 

I'm not complaining one bit, I want to make sure everyone understands that.  As frustrating as it is to watch our players off the field, I believe the Chiefs staffing is going beyond what virtually every other team is to assure the player is as close to 100% as possible before letting them take the field again.  I was really just curious to see if it was just me or if this was something other people were observing... 

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Has anyone noticed that it seems every time a chiefs player gets a concussion, they end up missing AT LEAST one game, while it seems every other team has their concussed players back on the field within a day or two? DAT is getting ready to miss his 3rd game, Abdullah his 2nd, and nearly a week later DeVito hasn't been cleared from his concussion.

 

I'm not complaining one bit, I want to make sure everyone understands that. As frustrating as it is to watch our players off the field, I believe the Chiefs staffing is going beyond what virtually every other team is to assure the player is as close to 100% as possible before letting them take the field again. I was really just curious to see if it was just me or if this was something other people were observing...

I'm not going to question the doctors at all, so if the players can't play, they can't play. But I would also have to think that the players who are missing due to concussions versus other teams, might not be as important and some of the opponents that we are playing my not be as difficult? Not making a statement, just throwing it out there. I can almost guarantee you that Alex Smith would be back as soon as physically possible, regardless of borderline or not. Both from Alex and the team, perhaps mostly Smith. He doesn't want to miss the playoffs again and while I don't think Daniel could Wally Pip him, but Murray? He believed in himself back then and he still does, but he's not stupid. He knows how this thing works.

 

If our schedule was reversed and we somehow needed to win all these games more than we already do, who knows whether players or doctors or team officials would let these players come back sooner. They can't come back sooner then borderline safe, but maybe borderline would be good enough?

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How much has the team to do with when a player returns from concussion and how much is the responsibility of the league.  I know non-team doctors evaluate the players when they come off the field but wonder if they stay involved throughout the time a player is off.  It may be out of the player's and team's hands.

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Guest Okiechief1

I wonder how much what happened with Belcher and then finding out he had signs of CTE effects how they as an organization handle it.

 

Maybe they go beyond what the league mandates because of that?

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Some players that enter the protocol because they experienced symptoms of a concussion can soon thereafter pass the baseline test, and after that, much of the final determination as to whether they can return to the field depends on their own reports of their symptoms. Some players report what they have, and some give a different report.

 

The key may not lie in the evaluations of medical personnel so much as in the Chiefs' own efforts to inform and educate their players on the subject of concussions. The Chiefs themselves have good reason to emphasize the matter given their recent history with Jovan Belcher, his minimal history with reported concussions, and the evidence of CTE upon his autopsy.

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