The Concussion Blog

The Concussion Blog Original, NFL Concussion Report, is a weekly compiling of the reported head injuries in the National Football League (posted when time allows).  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).  You can also view our white paper with original research about concussion reporting in the NFL from 2010-2012 HERE.

Where has this post been?

It has been 11 weeks since this report last was published, a long time.  For those that looked forward to this weekly post, I am sorry, time has not allowed me to be on the ball for weekly information.  However, that does not mean we have not been cataloging the concussions within the NFL.

Lets be honest, the constant concussion information has been almost to a point of overload for many, this includes me.  The weekly contribution on NFL concussions has been “lacking” due to where I have been, so please amuse me while I explain.  When the blog started it was for the dissemination of obscure, yet pertinent, information on concussions.  This included the founding of the NFL Concussion Report (first of its kind) which was, is and will be used for public research.  At times other media outlets have used this report for reference and in a naive manner I think that those that really care and can affect change look in on this from time to time.

With greater coverage from media, social media and the policy changers a lot of my “niche” has been filtered away from me.  I have been in the process of finding another angle/branch of this massive issue to keep people informed.  My biggest contribution going forward will be providing commentary about research and developments in the concussion realm.  I will be continuing to champion original research and testing products that come to the market for further opinion.

In reality I have gone no where, but I have published less.  So that is where this post and I have been.  Thanks for listening, now to the meat of this post.

82

Eighty-two is the number of concussions found in the NFL through 12 weeks of regular season football.  This number is significant.  Not significantly high, rather it continues the trend from last season of having overall lower numbers.  Depending on what color glasses you look through this can be a good thing or a strange thing.

Certainly we would all like to see lower numbers, it would mean some of the changes within the sport at the highest level have been working.  It would be tough to discern which exact method was doing this but less concussions would be a good thing.

However, if you were paying attention you would have noticed that it took 11 weeks (71) for the NFL to surpass the number of concussions found in the five weeks of the preseason (68).  It would be even more peculiar that through 10 weeks of regular season football there were five teams that had not reported a single concussion.

Following that tweet, I noticed something else;

So, two teams had reported a concussion following that first tweet.  And one week later, in week 12, Tampa Bay and New York Jets reported a concussion.  That only leaves Atlanta as the only team without a regular season concussion.

It’s because of these little nuggets of information and coincidence that one could possibly be jaded about the concussion reporting numbers.  There are other anecdotal tales of players being removed for concussion protocol and then returning to the field that also fuel this fire.  However, the later is not something that “bothers” me, in fact, it is a good thing, in my humble opinion.

The number “82” represents the lowest concussion total the past five years to this point in the season, by 20 or slightly over 25%.

Trends

Even with lower numbers there are trends that continue to hold, as seen in the past four years.  The most obvious is the defensive back and concussions; this position type on the field continues to lead the way in raw numbers.

Another trend that continues is that the offensive line concussions increase almost exponentially as the season wears on.  If this trend is a rule (which it is not at this point) we can expect to see this carry over to the tight end position as well.  If you want a break down you can view our white paper HERE.

Interestingly, the offensive and defensive split on concussions is nearing 50/50, which has not been the case the past few years.  This is important, because technically concussion should be a random incident and the split between the O and D should be like flipping a coin.

Teams have had trends too: Oakland, Jacksonville, and Cleveland continue to be the best at reporting concussions (Carolina and Denver trending upward) while Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Miami continue to be at the lower end.  The most interesting note in the team category is Cincinnati; they have been one of the lowest reporting teams the past four years, this year they lead the league (with Oakland) in overall (preseason and regular season) concussion reports.  I would be interested as to why this has occurred.

The Numbers

Now is the time for the Week 12 recap of concussions; 

• 11 concussions/head injuries found from Week 12
• 82 regular season concussions noted
• 150 total (preseason+regular season) concussions in 2014
• 6.83 Concussions/week
• 116 Projected Concussions
• 0.45 Concussions/game
• 7.89% InR
• 6.85% EInR

Running Totals for Regular Season:

• 42 Offensive – 40 Defense
• Positionally Speaking
  • QB – 1, RB – 10, TE – 5, WR – 10, OL – 16, DL – 4, LB – 8, DB – 28, P/K – 0
  • Team Breakdown
    • DEN, JAX – 5
    • ARI, KC, NO, OAK, SD, SF, WAS – 4
    • CAR, CIN, CLE, DET, NE, SEA, TEN – 3
    • BAL, BUF, CHI, DAL, IND, MIN, NYG, STL – 2
    • GB, HOU, MIA, NYJ, PHI, PIT, TB – 1
    • ATL – none

Our definition of Incidence Rate (InR) is projected concussions/46 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 12: # (2013, 2012, 2011, 2010):
  • Regular Season Concussions – 82 (102, 128, 116, 108)