Browns’ Coach Shurmur Defends Handling Of McCoy Concussion

Added on Dec 10, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Cleveland Browns’ head coach Pat Shurmur defended his team’s handling of quarterback Colt McCoy’s head injury after being the target of criticism from the player’s father. McCoy suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Browns’ loss to the Steelers on Thursday night.

McCoy’s father, Brad McCoy, said he spoke to his son the day after the game and got the impression he ‘didn’t know where he was’ when he returned to the field:

“I talked to Colt this morning and he said, ‘Dad, I don’t know what happened, but I know I lost the game. I know I let the team down. What happened?’”

The elder McCoy suggests that his son shouldn’t have returned to the game:

“He was basically out (cold) after the hit. You could tell by the ridigity of his body as he was laying there. There were a lot of easy symptoms that should’ve told them he had a concussion. He was nauseated and he didn’t know who he was. From what I could see, they didn’t test him for a concussion on the sidelines. They looked at his (left) hand.”

Shurmur insists that McCoy affirmed he was ‘ready to go’ before re-entering the game and maintains that Browns’ staff followed every bit of NFL protocol regarding head injuries:

“I feel very confident that if he wasn’t able to play we would have stopped him. I can assure everyone that we followed protocol.”

Added Shurmur:

“I’m the father of a quarterback. I understand the emotion.”

Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison also defended the hit that knocked McCoy out of the game:

“From what I understand, once the quarterback leaves the pocket, he’s considered a runner. All the defenseless(ness) and liberties that a quarterback has in the pocket are gone and you can tackle him just as he’s a running back. The hit wasn’t late, so I really don’t understand why it was called.”

Pittsburgh won the game 14-3 despite the heroics of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who returned to action in the second half after suffering a high ankle sprain. The Browns covered as +14 point NFL betting underdogs. The final score went well Under the posted total of 40.