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.
There has been a spike in concussions. I repeat, there was a spike in the number of concussions this past week. In all honesty people should not be surprised by this occurrence; what should be surprising to all of us is the fact that it took ten weeks for there to be double-digit concussions in a single week.
Although Week 10 produced 11 concussions it is not near a record for a week. That distinction belongs to Week 12 of last season, where there was 19 concussions reported. People should not be worried about the 11 concussions, as it was expected at this point in the season. We have noticed that in the past three years over 60% of all concussions reported occur between Week 10 and Week 16 (we feel it would be greater if Week 17 reporting were mandatory).
Our simple hypothesis is: cumulative effects of traumatic head trauma (although mostly sub-concussive) predisposes the brain to a concussive event with less force required late in the season. I cannot think of any other factor that would produce a significant increase in concussions in the back 1/3 of the season. There is three weeks of byes with 4 weeks of full scheduling. If you just compare W1-W7 (51 this year) to W10-W16 the numbers are even more spread out.
I would say expect more of the double digits than the single digits from here on out. That being said, expecting one thing and the seeing the results are another. Quick note; welcome to the real world Buffalo… Let us move on the Week 10 numbers (indicate previous week);
- 11 concussions/head injuries found from Week 6 (8)
- 78 regular season concussions noted (67)
- 132 total concussions in 2013 (121)
- 7.80 Concussions/week (7.44)
- 132 Projected Concussions (127)
- 0.52 Concussions/game (.49)
- 9.01% InR (8.60)
- 7.82% EInR (7.46)
Running Totals for Regular Season:
- 39 Offensive (34) – 39 Defense (33)
- Positionally Speaking
- QB – 3 (3), RB – 7 (7), TE – 8 (5), WR – 11 (9), OL – 10 (10), DL – 7 (6), LB – 10 (8), DB – 22 (19)
- Team Breakdown
- JAX – 8
- NYJ – 6
- PIT – 5
- NO, SD, SF, WAS – 4
- DET, GB, HOU, OAK, SEA, TB – 3
- CAR, CIN, DAL, KC, MIN, NE, PHI, TEN – 2
- ATL, BAL, BUF, CLE, DEN, IND, MIA, NYG, STL – 1
- ARI, CHI – 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: # (2012, 2011, 2010):
- Regular Season Concussions – 78 (93, 93, 88)
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