Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur strongly defended his team’s handling of Colt McCoy after the quarterback sustained a concussion during Thursday night’s loss to Pittsburgh.
Scrambling from pressure, McCoy was laid out by a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit from Steelers linebacker James Harrison late in the fourth quarter. McCoy left the game for just two plays but returned after being examined and cleared by the Browns’ medical staff, which Shurmur said followed the NFL’s exacting guidelines on concussions.
McCoy didn’t begin showing symptoms of a concussion until after the game, Shurmur said.
“If he had shown symptoms of the concussion I wouldn’t have put him back in the game,” Shurmur said. “That was a tough, physical game. Everybody got knocked around. If he had the symptoms he wouldn’t have gone back in – absolutely not.”
After McCoy was blasted by Harrison, who was fined $50,000 last season for a devastating hit on Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, the QB told trainers he also injured his left hand. McCoy was briefly checked on the field before he was taken to Cleveland’s bench, where Shurmur said medical personnel performed mandatory “return-to-play” tests adopted by the league in 2009.
Shurmur is confident the team’s training and medical staff made McCoy answer questions and evaluated him thoroughly before clearing him.
McCoy then approached his coach, who had put in backup Seneca Wallace as the Browns were driving to a possible go-ahead touchdown.
“He said, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go,’ ” Shurmur said. “And I was ready to go.”
On his third play after returning, McCoy, whose head was snapped back on the crushing blow from Harrison, threw a costly interception in the end zone.
When McCoy was on the sideline, Shurmur said he did not display any of the symptoms – loss of consciousness, confusion, amnesia, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting – associated with concussions.
“You follow the protocol,” he said. “When something like that happens, there’s interaction with the player. If he says, ‘Hey, I’m fine’ and you go through it and if he’s fine then you move on.”
Brad McCoy, Colt’s father, criticized the Browns for not doing more to protect his son, who also badly bruised his left hand.
“He never should’ve gone back in the game,” the elder McCoy told the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. “He was basically out (cold) after the hit. You could tell by the rigidity of his body as he was laying there. There were a lot of easy symptoms that should’ve told them he had a concussion. He was nauseated and he didn’t know who he was. From what I could see, they didn’t test him for a concussion on the sidelines. They looked at his (left) hand.”
EXTRA POINTS
Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour was fined $30,000 by the NFL for punching Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito on Sunday. … Patriots’ Jerod Mayo (head blow) and Lions’ Brandon Pettigrew (abusive conduct) were each fined $25,000. … Packers’ Charles Woodson (head blow) was fined $15,000. … Bears ruled safety Major Wright (shoulder injury) out for Sunday’s game at Denver. … The Cowboys signed seventh-year safety Gerald Sensabaugh to a five-year contract extension. … Texans receiver Andre Johnson (strained hamstring) will sit out Sunday’s game at Cincinnati. … The defensive-line strapped Lions released defensive back Brandon McDonald and signed defensive tackle Jovan Haye. … Redskins safety LaRon Landry (groin) will miss the game Sunday against the Patriots.
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