Late in the first half of Thursday night’s win over the Commanders, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ended up in the medical tent for a preliminary concussion evaluation.
By halftime, Hurts was out of the tent and jogging to the locker room.
He was asked about the evaluation after the game.
“I guess I beat the protocol,” Hurts said.
He was asked if he knows how he did that.
“I beat the protocol,” Hurts said.
Was he surprised about being evaluated?
“It happens,” Hurts said. “Was I surprised? I don’t know.”
It was surprising he ended up in the tent when he did. It was surprising he didn’t end up in the tent after the failed trick play that resulted in Hurts’s head whipsawing against the ground. He struggled to get up. It looked more than like enough to check him out. It didn’t happen — despite the various people who are present at the game for the sole purpose of monitoring players for potential concussion evaluations.
As to Hurts’s reference to beating the protocol, he and all players need to realize that the protocol is there for their own good. Most players view it as a hurdle to be overcome, an impediment to what they’re trying to do.
That makes it even more important that the NFL regard the concussion evaluation not as a checklist but as healthcare. In many cases, it’s involuntary healthcare.
If it’s even healthcare at all.
