The NFL’s concussion protocol is far from a perfect system, but there really shouldn’t be a situation where a team is able to circumvent the rules in place.
That very well might have been what happened during Sunday’s Week 5 game between the Bills and Texans.
In the fourth quarter, Josh Allen tried to avoid the Texans pass rush and get a throw off before a would-be sack. While Allen did get the pass away, his head took the brunt of the force. Allen hit the side of his head hard against the turf and briefly appeared to lose consciousness.
While trainers and medical staff did attend to Allen, he was quickly cleared to return to the game. Under normal circumstances, an independent neurotrauma specialist evaluates players with suspected head injuries. And given Allen’s reaction to that hit, an extended evaluation was absolutely warranted.
That didn’t happen, and NFL fans were furious with how the Bills handled the situation.
