On Sunday night, Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate took a blow to the head late in the second quarter. He exited the game, and then he re-entered. During halftime, he was placed in the concussion protocol.
On Monday, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles confirmed that Brate was not checked for a concussion on the sideline.
“He complained of shoulder discomfort,” Bowles said of Brate. “Nothing about his head. He was checked out three times. He just said give him a minute. Nothing came up. He went back in until the end of the half. At halftime, he started having symptoms. Obviously, they were delayed. He started complaining about that. They tested him, he’s in the protocol. We kept him out the rest of the game.”
After the player receives impact to the head, the NFL’s “Concussion Game Day Checklist” activates if the player exhibits or reports symptoms of a concussion, OR if the Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC), the booth ATC, the team doctor, a game official, a coach, a teammate, the booth Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant, or the sideline UNC initiates the protocol. Bowles’s explanation makes it clear that none of the various people who could have activated the protocol did so.
"[Brate] complained of shoulder discomfort,” Bowles said. “He said nothing about his head on the sideline. Nobody called down. He was checked out three times. And he went back in until the end of the half. The concussion thing didn’t come up until halftime.”
Nobody called down. That’s the point Tony Dungy has been making. Someone should have called down to initiate the protocol.
Bowles, based on his comments from Monday, possibly doesn’t understand that the protocol can be initiated even if the player (who we know can’t be trusted to be candid about head trauma, especially if he’s suffering from a head injury) doesn’t self-report.
“He complained about his shoulder, not his head,” Bowles said. “You can’t see a neurologist or talk about concussions if you’re only complaining about your shoulder. . . . It was a noticeable hit. But again, it was on the shoulder. Nobody said nothing about the head. He got checked out three times. He said he just needed a minute for his shoulder to clear up, and that was it.”
That’s where the ATC, the booth ATC, the team doctor, a game official, a coach, a teammate, the booth UNC, and/or the sideline UNC could have -- and should have -- come in. One of the problems with the protocol could be, frankly, that too many people have the ability to initiate the protocol. It’s easy to assume someone else will do it, or that they have done it.
Regardless, someone should have done it. The fact that Brate developed concussion symptoms at halftime proves that he should have been removed from the game and checked. The system may not be broken, but in that situation it definitely failed. And it left Brate susceptible to a second head injury, only minutes after he had suffered a first head injury.