Four weeks ago tonight, Panthers tight end Hayden Hurst suffered a concussion during a game against the Bears. He remains in the concussion protocol.
His father, Jerry, provided an alarming update yesterday on X.
Jerry Hurst said that Hayden “has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Amnesia by an independent neurologist as a result of the hit he took in Chicago November 9.”
Hurst took a big hit in the fourth quarter of the game. It was alarming that he was allowed to remain in the game, given that he struggled to get up. It also appeared, based on the images from the broadcast, that he was briefly in the fencing posture.
“Hurst had the wind knocked out of him on the play,” the league told PFT via email on November 17. “There was no fencing posture. He was evaluated on the sidelines by the medical staff as he explained what happened. Concussion symptoms presented themselves following the game and the team appropriately placed him in the concussion protocol. It is not uncommon for symptoms to arise following a game.”
The constant challenge for the NFL’s concussion spotters is to get a player off the field after an initial head trauma, because a second one on the heels of the first one can create a very serious outcome. Any reasonable person watching the game should have concluded that Hurst might have suffered a head injury. It should have been enough to get him properly evaluated before he re-entered the game.
