By Mike Florio

On Sunday, Bengals receiver Tee Higgins returned to action after suffering a concussion in Week 12 against the Patriots.

On Monday afternoon, after having his helmet strike the playing surface on multiple occasions during a Week 14 game against the Bills, the Bengals placed Higgins in the concussion protocol.

Early Monday evening, the NFL and the NFL Players Association issued a joint statement.

“Tee Higgins was evaluated twice in game and cleared to return,” the league and the union said. “After the game, in discussion with club medical personnel as part of a postgame evaluation, he notified the team he was experiencing symptoms and was immediately placed in the concussion protocol.”

It’s standard practice for players who are checked for concussions during games to be checked again after the game ends. And, yes, concussions sometimes don’t emerge immediately.

Still, the optics weren’t ideal. Higgins, who suffered the concussion when his helmet struck the artificial surface in Cincinnati, had it happen more than once on Sunday on the artificial turf in Buffalo. It became objectively uncomfortable to see it happen — and to see Higgins stay in the game

After the game, Higgins told reporters he had no concerns about continuing to play. The protocol is nevertheless in place to protect players from their natural inclination to keep playing.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, there will be no investigation regarding the handling of Higgins, because there is no reason to believe the protocol may have been violated.

This situation nevertheless creates a potential opportunity for tweaking the protocol when it comes to players returning from concussions.

NBCSports.com

That's a joke. I don't know what their protocols are, but I bet they aren't good at all. Everyone saw him fencing. Protect the shield!

Scary stuff. Really hope he’s OK.

I was quite surprised that he came back in the game… I think there were two instances, one in the middle of the field where he sat down for a bit to gather himself, and then when he had that fall where he stretched out for a pass near the sideline/end zone and banged his head. I assume he went into the tent and then came out and played… then the team went in at halftime and Tee stayed in there, and then came out again later and played again.

I dunno. I love the player, but this is serious. I am sure they followed protocol, but even so, sometimes you gotta protect guys from themselves. They should strongly consider shutting him down for this week, if not for the rest of the season.

4 hours ago, UncleEarl said:

That's a joke. I don't know what their protocols are, but I bet they aren't good at all. Everyone saw him fencing. Protect the shield!

They do this all the time with the "concussion-like symptoms" and "independent doctors". What makes them independent, are they volunteers? Somebody is paying them and whoever that is, they don't want to be responsible for benching Higgins in a close game. We didn't need a team of neurologists to to tell he was fucked up. Sure do need them to testify if it goes to court, though. The goal is avoid another CTE/TBI lawsuit, that's their sole concern.

It sucks but there's nothing unique about it. Of course it's the Bengals so now it's time to make an issue out of it.

5 hours ago, texbengal said:

Scary stuff. Really hope he’s OK.

I dunno. I love the player, but this is serious. I am sure they followed protocol, but even so, sometimes you gotta protect guys from themselves. They should strongly consider shutting him down for this week, if not for the rest of the season.

Agreed. He wasn’t himself even at the beginning of the game, let alone at the end. He wasn’t himself even juggling balls that normally he catches cleanly.

6 hours ago, T-Dub said:

The goal is avoid another CTE/TBI lawsuit, that's their sole concern.

💯

I think he suffered at least 2 more concussions in Buffalo.

I applaud his toughness and wanting to stay in there, but he should have been pulled after he pointed to his head the first time.

With the season on the line they clearly pushed the usual boundaries. Hopefully it didn't create any long-term damage.

The Colts have their own guy they trot in and out (hat tip Lou):

https://www.colts.com/news/charvarius-ward-sr-concussion-protocol-third-time-lou-anarumo-colts-health-human-being-jaguars-cornerbacks

1 hour ago, Jamie_B said:

Shouldn't have been out there in the first place. Should let Flacco take over, too, but they probably won't.

8 hours ago, BlackJesus said:

With the season on the line they clearly pushed the usual boundaries. Hopefully it didn't create any long-term damage.

They started the day 4-8. The season was not "on the line", the season was circling the drain. That's a piss-poor excuse to risk actual fuckin' long-term real life brain damage for anyone. Same thinking that's made Joe miss half his career.

Fuck them for even pretending their record still mattered, let alone in making that decision. The team sucks because their decisions tend to suck. 3 or 4 star players can't make up for all that. They suck so bad that even asking them to do so is risking injury to those players at this point. That's how bad they suck at football. An actual fucking health risk: the 2025 Cincinnati Bungos. How much worse can they get?

I think they shine a light in a guy's eyes to see if he can focus but mostly isn't it just asking questions? What year is it, etc?

Then they compare that to a baseline so they can tell if a guy is concussed or simply dumb.

I've heard players will tank the preseason baseline test so they don't get pulled from games that count.

The simple fact of this conundrum is that this game cannot escape head contacts—with people/ground/everthing. They can build bubble helmets bigger than William Martian’s and there will still be sudden shocks to the brain. And with all of the contact-avoidance rules…guys still find ways to bump their noggins

Nor will there ever be a shortage of healthy young men, who will do anything to get into this leviathan of a game. All of the protocols/tents/rules will never completely eliminate the problem.

The only real way to avoid it, is to totally change the game into non-contact. And the demanding public/TV moguls would never allow that.

So…the dance goes on. If one guy gets used up (within the rules of course), there will be thousands more in the wings. Names come and go.

17 hours ago, T-Dub said:

They do this all the time with the "concussion-like symptoms" and "independent doctors". What makes them independent, are they volunteers? Somebody is paying them and whoever that is, they don't want to be responsible for benching Higgins in a close game. We didn't need a team of neurologists to to tell he was fucked up. Sure do need them to testify if it goes to court, though. The goal is avoid another CTE/TBI lawsuit, that's their sole concern.

It sucks but there's nothing unique about it. Of course it's the Bengals so now it's time to make an issue out of it.

Independent neurologists are used. Idea is that as impartial resources, they are not team employees making the call where their evaluation and determination could be called into question. See below link to NFL.com for protocol used.

https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/health-and-wellness/player-care/concussion-protocol-return-to-participation-protocol

If people watched Zac's presser I think from yesterday, he seemed to kinda do the "well Tee told us he was fine but then on the plane he said NOT fine! Whatcha gonna do???". That is, of course, rancid bullshit, as many are pointing out. As soon as he grabbed his head after the first hit that should have been it for him, no matter what he says. I thought the league had been through this? I thought we were past players calling their own number if not for their own sake, for the sake of the precious league dollars? How does this even happen? The prop bets on when/if/how long he comes back in the next ten minutes too enticing to pass up?

5 hours ago, texbengal said:

Independent neurologists are used.

Yeah I know, they keep telling us every chance they get. Define "independent", though.

If they said he was fine then they suck at their one job, whether accidentally or on purpose. Clearly he was a long way from fine.

6 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

The simple fact of this conundrum is that this game cannot escape head contacts—with people/ground/everthing. They can build bubble helmets bigger than William Martian’s and there will still be sudden shocks to the brain. And with all of the contact-avoidance rules…guys still find ways to bump their noggins

Nor will there ever be a shortage of healthy young men, who will do anything to get into this leviathan of a game. All of the protocols/tents/rules will never completely eliminate the problem.

The only real way to avoid it, is to totally change the game into non-contact. And the demanding public/TV moguls would never allow that.

So…the dance goes on. If one guy gets used up (within the rules of course), there will be thousands more in the wings. Names come and go.

Still.. to ignore what minimal, laughable, purely-for-show safety protocol they have when some frostbitten fan up in the cheap seats can see the guy's fucked up.. For what? They've got 6 TE's on the roster, throw it to one of them instead. Higgins wasn't going to save them.

The first time he hit his head and he had that look of severe pain and clutching reminded me of Tua, to a lesser extent, and I wanted him out then.

9 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Yeah I know, they keep telling us every chance they get. Define "independent", though.

If they said he was fine then they suck at their one job, whether accidentally or on purpose. Clearly he was a long way from fine.

Understood. By independent, he's not a team employee… so s/he isn’t biased that way. Beyond that, I have no clue and yeah, regardless of the definition, it doesn’t mean the evaluator doesn’t suck at his or her job.

A lot of CYA-ing around this, with the joint statement from the league and the NFLPA. Hopefully Tee is ok and whatever decision is made about his playing status is made with the utmost caution… as I’ve said, I’d sit him for the rest of the year.

If there’s any good that comes from this, hopefully it’ll be that the protocol will get a thorough review and perhaps changes will be made going forward. As we all know, It’s a violent game and bad stuff can and does happen. But to the extent possible, you need to put guardrails in place, and maybe that means some tightened standards regarding recurring blows to the head and timeframe occurrence, regardless of whether it fits the “concussion” definition.

Again: no real way to protocol a sport out of frequent head collisions. I know that--to the screams of purists--heading a ball in soccer is prohibited in youth leagues and european U-11's. It is not prohibited in adult leagues. They have also redesigned the balls in the past 20 years from the old leather ones to a lighter polymer with less weight. I can tell you this: there are far more collisions with players' heads attempting a header, than from the ball itself.

Youth leagues in the US have developed an alternative way to tackle without lowering the head. Here is a small example:

It actually isn't a bad instruction in terms of "wrapping up". The difference, of course, is that these are 12 year olds and even there, the active runner/receiver isn't going to stand this in place.

Additionally, nothing takes into account the more frequent head collisions between linemen. It also doesn't address the ones where the head simply hits the ground (which have included all of Tee's issues).

If the NFL--or even the NCAA--really wanted to curb the problem completely (and even then, maybe not entirely), it would need to go to a "Flag Football" format. And there is no way in God's green earth either would ever concede to that. Paying lawsuits would involve less money than the loss in revenues keeping it the way it is now.

2 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

Again: no real way to protocol a sport out of frequent head collisions. I know that--to the screams of purists--heading a ball in soccer is prohibited in youth leagues and european U-11's. It is not prohibited in adult leagues. They have also redesigned the balls in the past 20 years from the old leather ones to a lighter polymer with less weight. I can tell you this: there are far more collisions with players' heads attempting a header, than from the ball itself.

Youth leagues in the US have developed an alternative way to tackle without lowering the head. Here is a small example:

It actually isn't a bad instruction in terms of "wrapping up". The difference, of course, is that these are 12 year olds and even there, the active runner/receiver isn't going to stand this in place.

Additionally, nothing takes into account the more frequent head collisions between linemen. It also doesn't address the ones where the head simply hits the ground (which have included all of Tee's issues).

If the NFL--or even the NCAA--really wanted to curb the problem completely (and even then, maybe not entirely), it would need to go to a "Flag Football" format. And there is no way in God's green earth either would ever concede to that. Paying lawsuits would involve less money than the loss in revenues keeping it the way it is now.

Can any of them play linebacker?