On Sunday in London, Rams receiver Brandin Cooks suffered his fourth concussion since Super Bowl LII, and his second in less than a month. On Tuesday, coach Sean McVay said that Cooks will see a specialist in Pittsburgh.
“He’s feeling good,” McVay told reporters. “He’s very aware of what’s going on and he can talk about what occurred pre-concussion. He’s aware . . . . We are going to send him to a specialist. He’s actually on his way there in Pittsburgh. I’m trying to see if we can get a little bit more clarity, because most important is Brandin Cooks as a human being right now, not necessarily the football player. Let’s get a better idea of what’s exactly is going on, so that we can at least make the best decision for him moving forward. Hopefully, being able to do that will give us some answers we’ll find more information about that.”
That sounds more than a little ominous, but maybe it should. Cooks has had too many head injuries, and the question becomes whether he’s dealing with the cumulative effects of suffering multiple concussions. Ultimately, after suffering so many concussions, the question becomes whether any doctor will clear him to play.
“I think we are just taking it a day at a time,” McVay said. “At least try to get some information to Brandin and then, we can make a decision that is best for him. Anytime that you have something like this occur, you want to consider the human being first and foremost, and that’s what we are going to do, take our time. No question, it will be something that we are going to be smart with. I think being able to get some answers, hear some other opinions on what’s going on, and other cases that have been like this will give us some clarity to hopefully, make the best decision for Brandin Cooks the person and the football player.”
Again, that sounds more than a little ominous. One decade ago yesterday, Congress gave the NFL and NFL Players Association enough of a scare to get the league to address the issue of head injuries. While not many players since then (Jahvid Best is one of the very few) have seen concussions involuntarily end their careers, each passing concussion moves Cooks closer to the point at which he may never be allowed to play again.
