The Concussion Blog Original, NFL Concussion Report, is a weekly (not so much this year) compiling of the reported head injuries in the National Football League. Concussions are added to the list each week from multiple sources to give you the reader a picture of what is happening on the field. Each week we will bring you the information along with relevant statistics. If we have missed a concussion or put one on here erroneously, let us know (we will also be using Fink’s Rule to classify a concussion/head injury).
The NFL is at the theoretical half way point in the season as most teams have eight games in and a few have nine completed. Usually this spot is a weekly tracking post; never fear I have been keeping track just haven’t found the time to post about it.
The NFL told me last week in Zürich that the eye-in-the-sky is being used and used often, Dr. York told the audience that in Week 6 there were 192 communications alone under this system. That breaks down to 13 times per game on average; so the discussion seems to be there, but are the results? It is far too soon to tell, but I am encouraged by the raw stats – knowing what was being discussed would be much more insightful.
Generally speaking the only “alarming” observation I am noting is the massive increase in offensive lineman concussions. Suppose the theory of cumulative hits eventually creates a lower threshold for an observed concussion then this example/observation would be example number one; after week 5 there were three OL concussions and after week 9 there are 10.
Other than Larry Fitzgerald amazingly missing only one play and Calvin Johnson admitting to playing through a concussion in week 4, if I remember correctly, the teams and players have been keeping up the expected trend to this point in the season. I noted back in the week 5 report that the offense was outpacing the defense and that also continues – at some point the law of averages will catch up, right?
Without further ado here are the numbers to this point (77 regular season concussions, 125 total in 2012). This weeks report will be comparing numbers to the post week five report (our last), they will be in the parentheses following the stat;
- 77 Concussions/head injuries (51)
- 8.55 Concussions/week (10.20)
- 145 Projected Concussions (173)
- 0.57 Concussions/game (0.68)
- 10.10% InR (12.04)
- 8.58% EInR (10.22)
- 44 Offensive (29) – 33 Defense (22)
- Positionally Speaking
- QB – 3 (2), RB – 8 (6), TE – 9 (7), WR – 14 (11), OL – 10 (3), DL – 4 (3), LB – 13 (9), DB – 16 (10)
- Team Breakdown
- OAK, WAS – 7
- DET – 5
- CLE, JAX, KC, NYG, SEA – 4
- MIA, NE, TEN – 3
- ARI, BUF, GB, IND, MIN, NYJ, PIT, SD, SF, STL – 2
- ATL, BAL, CAR, CIN, DAL, DEN, HOU, NO, TB – 1
- CHI, PHI – 0
Our definition of Incidence Rate (InR) is projected concussions/45 players taking the field per team per game, our definition of Epidemiological Incidence Rate (EInR) is projected concussions/53 man roster per team.
Comparing to past seasons the following has been found after Week 9: # (2011, 2010):
- Regular Season Concussions – 77 (80, 77)
The Concussion Blog 
Q. The latest research reported states speed positions greatly add to the risks
any thoughts anyone?
You would think that OL players would sustain more concussions from the repetitive sub traumatic blows they take every snap!!
I wonder if you took a look at their helmets after a game and you saw all the paint from the opposing team’s helmet if people really would be shocked.
Indeed it justs seems so obvious that the offensive linemans would be most
traumitized/effected but the study done on the 3439 former NFL players found
q.backs, running backs, wide receivers and linebackers were more than 3x more
to get Alzheimers or ALS. Just one study but was alarmed to read the findings.
Calvin Johnson says he played through a concussion so this site takes it as a fact? If a guy gets a sore knee and says he played through a torn ACL, will we accept that, too? But I guess we should expect a site called The Concussion Blog to be objective…
Why wouldn’t you take a players word? I mean if they say “I played through a hamstring injury…” we would take their word for it…
Also players know what a concussion is…
As for the stats, they are the most objective you will find outside the NFL’s actual internal numbers…
Thanks for the comment…
Defensive backs are smaller than the people they tackle and often have hits at higher velocity. It is easy to be an outsider who never played and try to say who is more likely to get a concussion. Why not talk to comeone who has actualyl been there? DBs are often flatfooted and have to tackle RBs who duck their heads to smash you in the face and try to break a tackle. Other times, you’re running at a moderate speed into a tight end who outweighs you significantly or a WR who is also running fast. THe blows to the head are way worse. Paint on a lineman’s helmet does not mean the blows were hard. And they’re hitting guys their own size.
Johnson, you obviously have not read any research to know why lineman are at risk for cumulative hits.
Yes the high speed collisions may produce the more “significant” immediate symptoms (i.e. loss of consciousness, fencing response, etc.) , but that doesn’t mean the cumulative hits don’t produce symptoms.
If I hit you with a bat hard it will probably cause a bruise. If I decrease that force by 50% and only hit you once it probably won’t. If I instead hit you 40-50 times it probably will cause a bruise.
Your anecdotal thoughts based on your experience (whether it be playing or observing) does not eliminate the actual scientific data that shows lineman hit there heads with fairly significant force on almost EVERY play.