For the second week in a row, a player left the field with an apparent head injury on Thursday Night Football.
On a third-and-seven early in the first quarter of Thursday’s Colts-Broncos game in Denver, Indianapolis running back Nyheim Hines caught a screen pass from quarterback Matt Ryan and gained five yards before being hit by Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto and defensive tackle D.J. Jones.
Hines has been ruled out because of NFL concussion protocol, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Hines was helped up by teammates before stumbling and needing help to remain upright.
The NFLPA and the NFL released a joint statement on Saturday that closed a loophole in the existing concussion protocols. That loophole allowed players who exhibited “gross motor instability”, stumbling or falling down like Hines did Thursday and Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa did in Week 3 against the Bills, to return to the playing field if doctors said something other than a head injury caused it.
In closing the loophole, this means that any player who is showing gross motor instability cannot return to the game. Hines will be out for the remainder of Thursday’s game vs. Denver.
There were murmurs about an updated concussion protocol being released before Thursday’s game, but it has not been released yet.
