Carson Wentz Called "Heroic"
Carson Wentz’s first playoff appearance lasted all of nine snaps, yet he was hailed as a hero on Thursday.
Not by Eagles fans or Eagles coaches or front office personnel, but by the NFL’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills.
"I think what Carson Wentz did is heroic and should be highlighted as an example of how an unbelievably skilled and competitive athlete understands the seriousness of concussion injury and is willing to honestly report it and receive the care that he needs independent of his desire and drive to continue to participate in the game," Sills said to The Associated Press.
"Having a concussion and playing through it is not about toughness. That's demonstrating a lack of understanding of the severity of the injury. So I applaud Carson Wentz for understanding how serious this injury is and for getting appropriate care that he needs."
Eagles linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill hid a possible concussion from team officials early in a Dec. 1 game against Miami and played on.
It wasn’t until several days later, with headaches persisting, that Grugier-Hill came clean and was put in concussion protocol, causing him to miss the following week’s game against the New York Giants on Monday night.
Head coach Doug Pederson wasn’t happy about Grugier-Hill not saying something when the hit happened, which was on the first play of the game. Pederson called it a “selfish act” and said he would talk to the team again about reporting symptoms immediately.
Wentz heard that message loud and clear, apparently.
He suffered a concussion while going to the ground and taking a helmet-to-helmet hit by Seattle’s Jadeveon Clowney in the first quarter of last week’s playoff game and, while sitting on the bench with backup quarterback Josh McCown, told McCown to be ready.
Wentz wasn’t alright. He never returned and the Eagles had to play the remainder of the game with, basically, one hand tied behind their back.
"It's a great example to players at all ages and levels that you only have one brain and you shouldn't take chances with a brain injury," said Sills. "Brain injuries are different than other injuries. Anytime someone has a sprained ankle, you can see their ankle swell up or they dislocate a finger and you can see the finger pointing in the wrong direction. You can't see a brain injury from the outside, but that does not make it any less severe or any less dangerous to the recipient than any of those other injuries."
None of the independent spotters and neurotrauma consultants monitoring the game saw Wentz show any signs of symptoms. Nobody on the Eagles sideline noticed it, either.
"Video identification of (symptoms) is one part of a concussion identification,” said Sills. “You're not going to see things like amnesia or confusion on video, and that's why all the other elements of detection are really important.
"You have to have people talking to the players. You want to make the players and their officials and coaches and everyone aware of the symptoms because you're not always going to see it on video, but yet there will be signs there if you're looking at everything."
Wentz sat on the bench and told his backup, Josh McCown, to get ready.
“He is sitting there not feeling right and obviously knew he needed to get checked,” said McCown following the 17-9 loss to the Seahawks in the wildcard round of the playoffs. “I think for the state of our game and the questions that come around those types of injuries, I think it’s a step forward, its progress because it’s the right thing. He was smart by getting checked and doing those things and making sure he was alright.”
Wentz went into the blue medical tent and reports are that he was wobbly and dizzy and was having trouble sitting upright. He was taken to the locker room.
After the loss, Wentz shook teammates’ hands and congratulated them on a good season.
On Wednesday, Pederson said he believed that Wentz could have played on Sunday had the Eagles found a way to beat Seattle with McCown playing.
