Just when you thought there wasn’t anything more to say about the Chicago Bears’ disastrous week and all the problems with quarterback Justin Fields on the field, there was this.
With 14:16 left in Chicago’s Sunday game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Kansas City already up, 41-0, Fields ran toward the end zone from the Kansas City three-yard line. He took a major hit from linebacker Willie Gay — a punch to the face when Gay was trying to cause a fumble — and his head appeared to hit the ground hard at the end of the play.
After the play, receiver DJ Moore had to help Fields collect himself.
this was the hit pic.twitter.com/QxsnzgomPN
— alex (@highlightheaven) September 24, 2023
Kicker Cairo Santos booted a 21-yard field goal on the next play, and given the circumstances, you’d think that Fields would have been done for the day.
That’s not what happened. Incredibly, the Bears allowed Fields to finish the game, and while he did throw a nine-yard pass to Moore with 4:20 left in the game, this is a worrisome trend from an NFL that was supposed to have this all sewn up after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was allowed to return to multiple games in the 2022 season despite obvious head trauma.
In 2018, the NFL made improvements to its concussion protocol in an attempt to improve its process.
From the league:
According to the policy, the NFL and NFLPA will each designate a representative to monitor the implementation of the protocol and investigate potential violations. The investigation will not reach medical conclusions; it will only determine whether the protocol was followed. Following the investigation, the NFL and NFLPA will review the findings to determine if a violation occurred and, if so, to recommend the proper disciplinary response. If the parties are unable to agree, the matter will be brought to a third party arbitrator. After conducting a thorough review, the arbitrator will issue a report to the Commissioner, NFLPA Executive Director and the involved parties.
As jointly agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA, the Commissioner retains absolute discretion in determining penalties for violations of the concussion protocol. Potential disciplinary action includes:
- A first violation will require the club employees or medical team members involved to attend remedial education; and/or result in a maximum fine of $150,000 against the club.
- Second and subsequent violations of the concussion protocol will result in a minimum fine of $100,000 against the club.
- In the event the parties agree that a violation involved aggravating circumstances, the club shall be subject, in the first instance, to a fine no less than $50,000. The Commissioner shall determine appropriate discipline for subsequent violations involving aggravating circumstances.
- In the event that the Commissioner determines that the club’s medical team failed to follow the protocol due to competitive considerations, the Commissioner may require the club to forfeit draft pick(s) and impose additional fines exceeding those amounts set forth above.
The enforcement policy is one of many collaborations between the NFL and NFLPA to improve player health and safety.
It would appear that none of this happened for Justin Fields on Sunday. The NFL and the Chicago Bears should be ashamed of that.
