New England Patriots wide receiver DeVante Parker’s head injury during the team’s “Monday Night Football” win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 14 might be the NFL’s latest concussion controversy.
Parker went down with his injury in the first quarter after catching a pass and hitting his head against the turf. The former Miami Dolphin was stumbling as he came to his feet and lined up in anticipation for the first-down play before fellow Patriots wideout Nelson Agholor saw that something wasn’t right.
ESPN’s Taylor Twellman called out the NFL over the incident on Monday night.
Parker didn’t return to the game, finishing the contest with two catches on two targets for 24 yards.
While there have been scores of concussion-related issues to plague the NFL this season, the most notable was the one regarding Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. In Week 3 vs. the Buffalo Bills, the lefty took a hard hit late in the second quarter that resulted in his head slamming against the turf and him stumbling off the field in a wobbly manner. Tagovailoa wasn’t entered into the concussion protocol after the Bills game as the team claimed he was battling a back and ankle injury.
He started Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals, only to suffer another frightening-looking injury in the second quarter. After being slammed to the turf on a clean sack by Cincinnati’s Josh Tupou, Tagovailoa seized up and laid on the field for roughly 10 minutes.
Prior to returning to action in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Alabama product said he didn’t “remember much” from the incident against Cincinnati. During Tagovailoa’s two-game absence, the NFL and NFLPA made modifications to the league’s concussion protocols.
