As expected, Thursday night’s misadventures with the Jaxson Dart concussion evaluation have prompted the NFL to send all teams a written reminder about the requirements of the concussion protocol — and the potential consequences for violation it.
The league sent a one-page memo on Saturday to all teams, with this heading: “Concussion Protocol Compliance Reminder.” PFT has obtained a copy of the memo.
“The Concussion Protocol explicitly requires that ‘only medical personnel deemed essential to the care of the athlete may be present for the tent and/or locker room evaluation. This includes the team physician best qualified to evaluate concussion, the Club AT, and the sideline UNC,’” the memo explains. “No other individuals are permitted in the tent or locker room during an evaluation. This includes coaches, front office personnel and/or other players. Clubs are responsible for ensuring compliance with this requirement.”
On Thursday night, Giants coach Brian Daboll approached and peered inside the medical tent while Dart, the team’s starting quarterback, was being evaluated for a concussion following a hit he took in the third quarter of a game against the Eagles. Giants running back Cam Skattebo went inside the tent during the examination.
“If a club employee or other member of the club medical staff knowingly and materially fails to follow a mandatory step of the Game Day Checklist, the club and individual violating the Protocol will be subject to discipline as set forth in the CBA,” the memo continues. “In addition, a club employee or other member of the club medical staff knowingly, willfully and materially interfering with or preventing a concussion examination shall constitute a violation of the NFL Concussion Game Day Checklist and will subject the club to discipline. Discipline may include reprimand, remedial training, fines and/or the loss of draft picks if it is determined that competitive considerations motivated the club’s failure to comply with the Protocol.”
In this case, Daboll admitted that he wanted to know how long the evaluation would take, citing a looming fourth-down decision. He apologized during his post-game press conference for interfering with the process.
“I just wanted his ass out there if he was OK,” Daboll said. “But I wanted the process — like, we were getting ready to go for it on a potential fourth down. I would have burned a timeout if he could have came out there. So I was asking how long is it gonna take?”
The NFL and NFL Players Association activated on Friday a joint review of the situation. Giants co-owner John Mara separately issued a statement, in which he said he had spoken to Daboll about the situation, adding this: “While I firmly believe, as [Daboll] has stated, that he was not trying to influence the process in any way, he understands that the appearance of going to the tent is inappropriate.”
Daboll wasn’t trying to get Dart cleared; the coach was trying to find out whether a decision would be made quickly as to whether Dart would be cleared. The league will have to decide whether that’s a true distinction, or whether it’s a matter of semantics.
Either way, any interference with the process undermines the effort to make a proper decision. Trying to get a quick answer is arguably no different than trying to get quick clearance. It distracts the people responsible for the concussion evaluation from the task at hand.