The Minnesota Vikings saw cornerback Akayleb Evans return from suffering a concussion against the Buffalo Bills but it was unfortunately short-lived.
Officials removed him from the game on Sunday after being hit hard and, while he initially passed the concussion protocol, Evans started showing symptoms after the game and entered it after the game.
During Monday’s press conference, head coach Kevin O’Connell ruled out Evans for Sunday’s week 14 game against the Detroit Lions.
“And then Akayleb, he is in the protocol, I’ll go ahead and let you guys know we’re going to rule him out already just to make sure that having had his third now, concussion, we’ll go ahead and rule him out,” said O’Connell. “We’re going to have him go through the process and protocols here, but I want to make sure Akayleb and our staff, we’re doing everything we can in our power to make sure before Akayleb plays again we want to make srue it’s 100 percent the right timing for him because we care more about the player health and safety of a player like Akayleb. Although it was great having him back and I though he really flashed in the moments he was out there, it’s about his health and we’ll always be about that and has been since the first concussion that he received.”
This is consistent with how the Vikings handled Darrisaw coming back and sustaining a concussion in his first game after exiting the concussion protocol. Good on the Vikings for taking the smart approach to the health and safety of their players.
