The Buffalo Bills have taken heat all week following a concussion scare to franchise quarterback Josh Allen in last Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.
Allen’s head slammed extremely hard into the turf while he was scrambling to make a throw. Many who were watching the game and saw the replay on social media thought Allen was knocked out and had suffered a concussion as he lay motionless on the field for a few seconds.
Prayers: Josh Allen hit his head really hard on the turf.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 6, 2024
Headed to medical tent 🙏pic.twitter.com/d1hMetQRb6 https://t.co/CLvR1k2Y1L
Allen ended up going into the blue medical tent to get tested for a concussion. After the assessment, Allen was spotted on TV receiving smelling salts and came back into the game.
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The day after the loss to the Texans, Bills head coach Sean McDermott said that Allen was cleared to go back into the game.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Allen seemed to give an evasive answer about how he was feeling.
“I obviously went into the tent. I can only control what I can control,” Allen said, via the New York Post. “What we talked about there, they deemed me cleared to play, and that’s what happened. That’s as deep as I’ll get into it.”
Because of the uproar, the league and the NFL Players Association investigated Allen’s concussion protocol.
What did NFL, NFLPA say in their concussion protocol report?
In a joint statement, the NFL and the NFLPA said concussion protocol was followed for Josh Allen and nothing nefarious occurred.
Joint NFL-NFLPA statement says concussion protocol was properly followed last week with #Bills QB Josh Allen. pic.twitter.com/XZ2smT6Q9y
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 11, 2024
“The NFL and the NFLPA have reviewed the reports from the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant and Booth Spotters and those reports confirm that the steps required by the concussion protocol were followed in the evaluation and cleared of Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen in last Sunday’s game,” the NFL and NFLPA said in a statement to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
“The protocol has been jointly developed and is jointly administered by the NFL and NFLPA. Under that program the parties jointly identify, retain and train the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultants and Booth Spotters.”
Despite the NFL and NFLPA clearing the Bills of any wrongdoing, this won’t stop questions from being asked when players seemingly come back too quickly from what is perceived as a serious head injury.
Allen and the Bills take on the New York Jets next Monday night.