Dolphins QB Matt Moore "missed just one play" during a Wild Card loss yesterday after Steelers LB Bud Dupree launched, helmet-first, into Moore's chin, but both Moore and the team "insist he was not concussed," according to Adam Beasley of the MIAMI HERALD. The team said that Moore was "evaluated and cleared by both the NFL’s unaffiliated neurological consultant and the team’s physician" (MIAMI HERALD, 1/9). Dolphins G Jermon Bushrod said that he was "surprised when he saw Moore in the huddle." Moore said, "That process can take a little while. I was, ‘All right, let's get it done.'" Moore, who lost two fumbles on strip sacks and threw an interception after the hit, said that he "had no lingering effects" (TRIBLIVE.com, 1/8).
IS ANYTHING CHANGING? In Pittsburgh, Sean Gentille writes under the header, "Matt Moore Shows How Lame The NFL Concussion Policy Can Be." It is "impossible to believe, after a hellacious hit to the face" that Moore "stayed on the sideline long enough for anyone to figure out one way or the other" whether he had sustained a concussion. Gentille: "That’s the NFL concussion policy at work. This is the league that we all, in one way, choose to support, and literally nobody -- as in not a single person -- should believe that a couple minutes is enough to determine anything. At all" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/9). In DC, Adam Kilgore writes, "The NFL’s concussion protocol has prevented some players from participating with concussions. On Sunday, the inescapable conclusion is that it failed to protect Moore." One play is "simply not enough time to determine whether a player has suffered concussion." After such "an obviously violent collision, Moore should have been taken to the locker room for a a broader battery of tests." Moore’s brief removal "fit into the NFL’s record." In crucial situations and for QBs, teams or medical officials "seem to relax or ignore concussion protocol" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/9).
