5...FIVE....Houston Texans suffered concussions yesterday. There are 53 players on the roster - 10%
Bill O'Brien: Five Texans in concussion protocol unlikely to play Thursday night
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20671297/bill-obrien-says-five-players-concussion-protocol-unlikely-play-houston-texans-thursday-night-game
HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans ended their season-opening loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars with five players in the concussion protocol: inside linebacker Brian Cushing, wide receiver Bruce Ellington and all three tight ends on the active roster, C.J. Fiedorowicz, Ryan Griffin and Stephen Anderson.
Texans coach Bill O'Brien said it would be tough for any of the five to play on Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals because of the short turnaround.
"I would say that most of those guys are probably going to be out for the game, relative to it being a short week," O'Brien said Monday. "I don't know yet, but relative to the game being on Thursday night, that's usually the case based on the protocol and all the tests they have to pass to be able to get back on the field."
There is a five-step process to be cleared from the concussion protocol, including a step that says a player must return to practice as a full participant. Due to the short week, the Texans only have one practice before the game.
= new reply since forum marked as read
These guys are adults and they're paid well and they make the decision to play so I say let them play
Would I do it NO but I'm not an athlete
Some people get off on that kind of thing so I say do as you say you're doing or I do as I say I'm doing. But in the meantime don't talk down to them who chose to play
Peace
Luke is one of a handful of players in the NFL trying this device out- Remember he sat out the end of last year after his second concussion:
Hard-to-see experimental device Luke Kuechly wears on field might save his brain
The device Kuechly is wearing is called a Q Collar.
Co-invented by Dr. David Smith a little over five years ago and developed by Connecticut-based sports science company Q-30 Innovations, the Q Collar’s inspiration was drawn from the physiology of a woodpecker, which beats its head against a tree trunk several thousand times per day but does not suffer brain damage. This is because, among other advantages, a woodpecker’s tongue can put pressure on its jugular vein.
By doing so, the blood flow out of the skull cavity slows and provides a cushion for the brain on the inside of the skull.
Similarly, Smith found, as the two ends of the Q Collar press slightly on a human’s jugular vein, cerebrospinal fluid outflow is slowed, increasing the amount of fluid by between a teaspoon and a couple of ounces.
That sounds frightening, but the amount of fluid that is inside the skull and around the brain while wearing the device is about the same as if a person is lying down, according to Dr. Gregory Myer, an independent researcher of the collar.
Myer is the Director of Research and of the Human Performance Laboratory in the Sports Science division of the Cincinnati Children’s hospital.
“By putting a small ‘kink in the hose,’ you’re creating a backfill,” Myer said. “So that extra blood volume is filling that free space in the cerebral-vascular tree. ... We’re just filling up that free expandable space so the brain has less room to move inside the skull.”
When the brain does move violently upon collision and ricochets against the skull (a phenomenon unceremoniously referred to as “slosh”), both a coup (area of immediate impact) and contrecoup (ricochet area of impact opposite the initial collision) effect occurs.
That effect causes both minor and major trauma to the brain, including concussions. Studies show that repeated impacts of this nature – both minor and major – can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Read more:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article172064837.html
