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Should Rams QB Matthew Stafford have been allowed to return to Sunday’s NFL Wild Card game against the Detroit Lions?
That’s the question being asked after Stafford left the game in the third quarter after a hit from Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeil that sent his head bouncing off the turf.
so your telling me the people upstairs watched this and gave Stafford the go? pic.twitter.com/FbMsmH7mQr
— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) January 15, 2024
A camera shot then showed Stafford’s eyes appear to roll back in his head before return to their normal state. Stafford left the contest briefly, but was cleared by a league-employed independent neurologist before returning to the game.
Fans quickly questioned weather or not Stafford should have been allowed back in the contest.
Duke Neurologist Weights In Matthew Stafford Head Injury
We spoke to Duke University Vascular Neurology Fellow Dylan Ryan about the hit and what Stafford’s signs and symptoms told him.
“Even going back to the hit, Stafford has a rapid acceleration as McNeil hits his head toward the ground and then the rapid deceleration as the helmet hits the turf,” Ryan says. “Looking at the footage, Stafford has a fixed gaze, tonic posture of the arms, and then subsequently doesn’t react when being stepped on, which all suggest he’s unconscious. The mechanism of injury and the period of loss of consciousness with posturing meet the criteria for mild TBI (concussion).”
Ryan states that Stafford should have immediately been removed from the game under the NFL’s protocol for “no-go” after an apparently head injury.
Stafford suffered a similar injury just last season. The star quarterback missed multiple games due to concussions in 2022.
This has many fans wondering if the NFL even follows its own, explicit set of rules.
The only consistent thing about the NFL is they’ll make a few cosmetic moves in service of safety theater, then just stop adhering to them altogether until a really bad obvious concussion happens then rinse & repeat https://t.co/foKRWP8MBm
— Sarah York (@thesarahyork) January 15, 2024
the nfl spent a lot of time last year, post-Tua, about how they'd be overly cautious. no concussion eval for Mahomes after the helmet crack last night. whatever that just was for Stafford just now. so … yeah.
— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) January 15, 2024
Earlier in the day, Kansas City Chiefs superstar QB Patrick Mahomes sparked controversy when he shattered his helmet in a head-to-head hit.
Mahomes did not leave the game and was not evaluated for a concussion.