The Concussion Blog Original, NFL Concussion Report, is a weekly 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). It also should be noted that due to the league not disclosing actual injuries until Friday night there may be some added to next weeks numbers.
This year is now catching up with 2010 in terms of concussions reported in the regular season. Interestingly, this week was difficult to ferret out the numbers. There will be at least two concussions not listed on the NFL Official Injury Report due to these reasons;
- Sidney Rice was reported by the head coach to have concussion symptoms, but he is going on the IR with a knee injury.
- Will Rackley is on a bye this week and will not appear.
I will be interested to see how Ramon Foster and Keith Tandy are listed later today. This leads me to the tweet from Hamza Abdullah about him being knocked out (concussion) and then the team/league reported it as “poked in the eye”. Certainly times have changed from 2007 to now, however the need to “game” the system is always a clear and present danger with concussions. Once they enter the protocol the unrealistic thoughts are that a player is more scrutinized. Perhaps by some, but not here, our take is that we are pleased when players are reported. Again it’s not the injury that is the issue, rather the mismanagement of the injury.
I would also like to note that 31 of the 32 teams have now reported a concussion in either the preseason or the regular season. Only one team has yet to report a single concussion: Miami.
All of my “tin-hat” awareness done let us move on to the current numbers, concussions/head injuries through Week 8 (indicates previous weeks values);
- 8 concussions/head injuries found from Week 6 (6)
- 59 regular season concussions noted (51)
- 113 total concussions in 2013 (105)
- 7.37 Concussions/week (7.29)
- 125 Projected Concussions (123)
- 0.49 Concussions/game (.58)
- 8.52% InR (8.41)
- 7.39% EInR (7.30)
Running Totals for Regular Season:
- 30 Offensive (25) – 29 Defense (26)
- Positionally Speaking
- QB – 3 (3), RB – 6 (6), TE – 5 (3), WR – 9 (8), OL – 7 (5), DL – 5 (5), LB – 7 (6), DB – 17 (15)
- Team Breakdown
- JAX – 6
- NYJ – 5
- SD, WAS – 4
- DET, OAK, PIT – 3
- CAR, CIN, GB, HOU, KC, NE, PHI, SF, TB, TEN – 2
- ATL, BAL, CLE, DAL, DEN, IND, MIN, NO, NYG, SEA, STL – 1
- ARI, BUF, CHI, MIA – 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 8: # (2012, 2011, 2010):
- Regular Season Concussions – 59 (74, 68, 64)
The Concussion Blog 
Fantastic blog! Thank you.
It would be interesting to have the NFL report how many of these occurred on plays run at the line of scrimmage vs. kickoffs/punts/special teams especially since eliminating kickoffs is one of the ideas floated around to change the game.
When helmets hit together, that is when the majority of concussions occur ..
The interaction of the hard shelled headgear causes the majority of TBI s in football.
CTE researchers believe, even the low velocity helmet to helmet hits on the line are a problem.
Thanks again,
G. Malcolm Brown
i played pro as a rb and was on kick off cover and return. cover and return have a greater impact as both players have had time to get their momentum to full speed; that includes tackling OR blocking. my worst ko was a blind side head to head on kick off cover.
The opening sentence is not accurate. Helmet-to-helmet contact is down the list of perpetrators of concussion.
Phil. Drop me a line when you get the chance. Want to see how you are doing post NFL life. I’ve had 9 NFL caused VP Shunt brain surgeries and an expert on the subject. Go to The Visger Group blog for brain injury info and help. http://www.thevisgergroup.org .
hi george; i had played in the CFL in the 80,s and had played against Warren Moon in the 1980 Grey Cup. i had watched ” FIFTH ESTATE HEAD GAMES” and had seen that some of the players from that game are dead now as are many NFL players. i will certainly look up your link; as for life now i am 57 and have many problems i can only explain by the concussions in football. depression, short fuse anger for small things, inability to focus on life tasks that were no problem. sometimes getting or having trouble orally putting my thoughts into words; impulsive decision making that i regret later wondering what was i thinking of when i did that; and mostly short term memory and long term for that matter where i have fuzzy life memories but can not put them in time order; even things like remembering my’ daughters middle names had confused me for a day so i had to give up out of agitation. when i played we were taught to lead block and tackle with facemask into the chest and drive up into the chin. no wonder there were so many concussions and so many screwed up older players!!
my facebook is pcolwell35@aol.co.uk if you would like to share more info.about head trauma from football
George I read you book on Kindle last night. I didnt know about CTE but having played football through college I knew that getting dizzy wasnt good. However,.I say that because I knew watching the NFL that they were bigger and faster and because its their livelihood werent going to come out like I did in college and high school. This book continues my anger at the NFL and I just rarely watch it anymore.
I coach youth football and we did something this year called “When In Doubt Sit Them Out”. A player shows any sign of getting his bell rung, hands go to the head even for a split second, slight headache, they are done for the day and the parents are notified. It sickens me when I see opposing coaches who will now pull a kid out when its noticed that something has happened, after 5 minutes on the bench the kid now says they feel fine, and they are put back in. Watch what happens when the lawsuits come flying at youth football organizations.
Phil, I’ll send you info to your FB page.
Joe, I hope more read my e-book just to get educated. I’m glad to hear you are being proactive in coaching youth football. Just last night I called the head coach at my old high school (A.A. Stagg high in Stockton, CA) to congratulate on a big win last week. He informed me they had a kid go down with a brain bleed, was airlifted to UC Davis and had brain surgery last week.
It’s way past time people realize this is only a game, and not worth kids lives.
Go to our website for traumatic brain injury avoidance and recovery information. .
would appreciate that george.; have you known or heard of any of your american friends that might have suffered the same thing in the CFL at that time period? we must have played in the same time period 1980-1983 and i had played with or against many of the same americans as i did in the CAN-AM BOWL 1979 Tampa florida.
Dustin,
Great job on the blog. I am concerned that there are still concussions being missed by the “eye in the sky”. In the Thursday night game between CIN/MIA, Sanu for CIN was clocked shoulder or helmet to helmet but he wasn’t evaluated and to my knowledge returned the next play. Frustrating…
yeah, i do think the same thing… Or worse, its being communicated but not heeded…