Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Ashton Dulin is currently in the league’s concussion protocol after taking a major hit from Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James in the Monday night loss at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Interim head coach Jeff Saturday told reporters Tuesday that Dulin is “doing well” but that he will be in the league’s protocol.
“All right, not a lot has changed. Ash (Ashton Dulin), obviously in concussion protocol. He’s doing well. As good as can be hoped but again, he’s in protocol, so we’re looking at that,” Saturday said.
Oh my. Derwin James just blasted Ashton Dulin and the Colts quickly took him to the medical tent.
Derwin was ejected.pic.twitter.com/T90xif6ri4
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 27, 2022
There was some debate surrounding the hit as some believe it shouldn’t have warranted an ejection. However, Saturday disagrees and believes the hit clearly falls under grounds for an ejection.
“I definitely thought – and it was right in front of me. It definitely deserved an ejection. You can’t launch into a guy’s head, especially a guy who is turning the other way and unprotected,” Saturday said. “If you look at all the rule changes over the last 10 years or however long it’s been since we’ve tried to take that stuff out of the game, that will be one that they show week after week when they go to teams and say what you can’t do. I disagree and I thought the ejection was warranted.”
Chargers head coach Brandon Staley even went so far as to put the blame on the Colts for putting Dulin in that situation.
“It’s a play where they obviously laid the guy out in a tough position, which is their fault, not ours, and Derwin made an aggressive play,” Staley said, via Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star. “I’ve seen him make a lot of tackles on plays just like that, and I know that his target was not above the neck. I know that.”
Even if his target wasn’t the head or neck area, James still made significant contact with force and clearly launched while Dulin was a defenseless receiver. Is James supposed to let Dulin catch the ball and turn? Of course not.
But regardless of his target or intention, he still laid a massive hit on the head/neck area of a defenseless receiver.
We’ll see if the Colts will get Dulin back this week, though the recent changes to the protocol could make it difficult.
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