Tom Savage debacle needs to lead to conc

It is time for a thorough re-evaluation of the NFL's concu sion protocol.I don't pretend I have all the answers, or know how to fix a proce s that continues to be flawed -- with cognitively distre sed players being allowed to quickly re-enter a game only to later be diagnosed with a brain bruise -- and I'm not nave enough to believe an absolutely foolproof means of preventing such instances exists. But, after reviewing every angle I could get my hands on from the Fox broadcast of Sunday's 49ers-Texans game, during which Houston quarterback was obviously impaired by a blow from his head hitting the ground, I know the NFL and NFL Players A sociation can do better.Frankly, they must do better. My goal here is not to a se s blame -- that's for the joint review by the league and the union to determine -- and I want to be clear that this isn't about Savage, either. He happened to be the player involved in this case and, as someone who dealt with injury knocks as he moved between college programs before being drafted, Savage, like many players, wasn't going to pull himself from the game on his own. This could have been any NFL player in any NFL stadium. With a review of a bizarre sequence involving Wesley Walker Jersey still ongoing, and with apparent flaws in the current protocol being exposed with too much regularity, this goes well beyond any one instance. Even one as troubling as this.What I sincerely hope is that this proves to be a galvanizing moment and the catalyst for a comprehensive reworking of the current concu sion-detection system. That might include adding more -- or more experienced -- pre s box spotters or more doctors on the sidelines or paying neurologists to sit alongside officiating personnel at league headquarters as games are monitored in real-time, by the NFL's football operations staff, with the ability to stop games with a call to the sidelines. But clearly, after the nation and the world watched Savage lose control of his motor skills when his helmet hit the turf, and began to shake his hands as if suffering a seizure or Quincy Enunwa Jersey palsy, and displayed as many overt signs of mental impairment as po sible, more needs to be done as soon as po sible.If anything, this scene only gets more painful with each watching. It only becomes more stupefying that no one in Houston -- in the pre s box, the owner's box, the coaching box or on the sidelines -- and no one in New York managed to intervene in all of the time that pa sed between Savage suffering the blow to the head and him returning to the field on the ' ensuing po se sion. It began the moment he was driven to the ground, with ample force, when leaping to try to make a desperate throw. Referee John Hu sey was stationed in the back of the end zone, with the play coming directly to him, and he moved nearby Savage quickly after the hit. At one point he was right above Savage as the quarterback's hands began shaking, even reaching down to him at one point after Savage's eyes appeared Tyler Conklin Jersey to close. There was 9:13 remaining in the first half, the clock stopped after an incomplete pa s, and Savage popped up, surprisingly quickly, then moved awkwardly toward the sidelines.Play was stopped for several minutes as trainers attended to linebacker . Then came commercial breaks and a period by which time Fox has displayed various angles of Savage at least a half dozen times. With the San Francisco offense about to take the field, Savage walked, quite gingerly, behind the Texans bench, with trainers and team personnel nearby. The 49ers then went on a scoring drive of 2:34, during which three doctors hovered around Savage on the bench, and he then went into the blue tent for further evaluation.By now, the play was becoming a trending topic on social media. Savage's reaction on the ground looked quite similar to losing control of his hands after a concu sion earlier this season -- which took him out for the rest of the game -- yet there were no obvious signs on the Texans sideline that backup T.J. Yates was coming into the game. None of the game officials did anything. No Texans coach -- on the sideline or upstairs -- did anything. No team official did anything. The various doctors, neurologists and trainers on the sidelines had deemed Savage fit to get back into the game. He handed off to , who was promptly injured on that carry, creating another delay in play. No one intervened. No one in Washington, D.C., where the NFLPA is located. Nothing from New York.Savage dropped back to pa s on second down, seemed to cower a bit, looking anything but comfortable, and mi sed his target by a wide margin. The ball sailed helple sly away. Savage continued to put his hand to his mouth, repeatedly, and bent over, walking very gingerly again. On third-and-11 he seemed to flinch a few times at the oncoming rush, then threw a pa s that didn't even reach the feet of the intended target.Again, his hands kept going to his mouth, covering his lips, but there was no play call to hide and no obvious reason for the action. He might have been entirely unaware. Now with a little over two minutes left in the half and Houston getting the Sam Darnold Jersey ball back, the Fox sideline reporter said Savage wanted to go back in, but was "held back," by doctors and team personnel. Savage walked slowly off the field with his helmet still on, Yates took over at quarterback and another concu sion-protocol investigation was about to begin. Eventually, the league will make an announcement about whether any discipline to the Texans or the sideline personnel or the pre s box spotter is due. As we've come to know, fines and lo s of a draft pick could be involved. But it needs to go further Sheldrick Redwine Jersey than that. It's time for complete transparency, which includes releasing the full transcripts of any interviews and the overall findings in a comprehensive report. It's time to get the league office and its full resources involved in detecting these brain injuries as soon as they happen. It's time to add layers to the proce s. This isn't close to being good enough.More notesThey're not being talked about as much as some other imminent coaching openings, but I'm keeping a very close eye on Detroit, Arizona and Tenne see for po sible shakeups. GM Bob Quinn has been dabbling with the prospect of a coaching change since he got on the job, and the relationship between Bill O'Brien and GM Rick Smith in Houston has never been cozy, and this Savage situation will likely only heighten tensions. And if both teams made changes, seeing O'Brien land in Detroit wouldn't surprise me in the least. In Arizona, there continue to be many who believe that Bruce Arians will retire this offseason, and I know the would be in the playoffs and all if the season ended today but sadly for them it doesn't, and they remain quite flawed. is regre sing and always banged up; only has thrown more picks than Mariota's 14, and of all QBs to play in at least 10 games, only Kizer, a struggling rookie on a winle s team, has thrown fewer than Mariota's 10