Calvin Johnson: 'It's part of football, you get concussed, you gotta keep playing'

Lions receiver Calvin Johnson shrugs off concussions, saying it's "part of football." (Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

Despite mounting controversy about concussions in the NFL, not all players are too concerned about head injuries. Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson spoke on the Stoney and Bill show on 97.1 The Ticket Thursday morning about his helmet-to-helmet collision with Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway two weeks ago. Johnson admitted to being shaken up, but said it was all a part of the game.

"He rung my bell pretty good, he got me, he caught me around the chin, that was a good hit,” Johnson said. “It’s a part of football, you get concussed, you gotta keep on playing. You can’t get afraid to go across the middle any more than you were at the beginning.”

Quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Matt Cassel took hard hits and left their games on Sunday; both were diagnosed with concussions. And former Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, one of the more than 3,000 players suing the league for concealment of the risks associated with concussions, died on Wednesday at the age of 77. Karras reportedly died of kidney failure and suffered from dementia for years.

Johnson said he was given a concussion test on the sideline after the hit and then returned to the game.

"They come and do the little test with the finger ...ask you what day, what game it is, stuff like that,” Johnson said.