Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate got some encouraging news after a frightening moment on Sunday when he was stretchered off the field in Pittsburgh during a loss to the Steelers.
Brate was in a neck brace after receiving lengthy treatment on the field. But promisingly, he was spotted giving a thumbs up as he was wheeled off.
As NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport revealed Monday, Brate’s follow-up tests were all negative, and he remains in good spirts after flying home with the team on Sunday night.
‘#Bucs TE Cameron Brate, who left the field on a backboard yesterday, went home on the team flight, was in good spirits and had all of his follow-up scans negative, source said,’ Rapoport tweeted. ‘He’ll be monitored but as it pertains to his neck, this is good news.’
Brate missed Week 5 after getting concussed when the Bucs lost to the Chiefs a week earlier.
On Sunday, the Bucs reported that Brate had movement in all his extremities: ‘Cameron Brate has been ruled out for the remainder of the game. Brate has movement in all of his extremities and continues to be evaluated further.’
He was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital but was released after being evaluated on Sunday evening.
Cameron Brate was hurt on his return to the Bucs team, after missing a game with concussion
The 31-year-old was wheeled off the field in concerning scenes in the NFL on Sunday
Earlier on Sunday, the Dolphins’ Greg Little also appeared to suffer a head injury.
He shook his head twice and was breathing heavily, yet still was allowed to play on for Miami without being checked.
It prompted Chris Nowinski, a concussion specialist who has frequently been critical of the NFL concussion protocol, to take to Twitter, sharing the footage and writing: ‘Watch Dolphins LT #75 Greg Little take a knee to the head, stay down, get up looking woozy, do the ‘shake off the cobwebs’ TWICE, yet finish the drive.
‘The FOX cameraman & producer hold on him way too long to try to help the #concussion spotter. How do you not evaluate him @NFL?’
Charles Robinson, Yahoo’s NFL reporter, also wondered how Little wasn’t checked. He said on Twitter: ‘Seems like #Dolphins tackle Greg Little (75) took a knee in the head and was shaking his head after.
‘Not sure how a guy laying there and then shaking his head isn’t caught by a spotter after Bridgewater was pulled for a lot less.’
Little got back to his feet slowly and shook his head but was not checked for a concussion
The Dolphins have, in recent weeks, lost two quarterbacks to concussions.
Promisingly, Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater have now cleared concussion protocols after recent incidents.
The handling of the Tagovailoa case particularly drew in scrutiny.
He returned to practice last week, but did not play Sunday after appearing to suffer head injuries in consecutive weeks.
The first came in an upset win over the Buffalo Bills on September 25 when Tagovailoa took a hit from linebacker Matt Milano in the first half, causing his head to slam off the turf. He appeared disoriented afterward and stumbled as he tried to get to his feet.
Tagovailoa was immediately brought to the locker room and taken through the NFL’s concussion protocol, after which he was cleared of any head injury. He started the third quarter, drawing criticism from viewers about why he was allowed to return to the game, which he ultimately won.
Although Tagovailoa was cleared of a concussion at the time, and told media he simply aggravated a back injury, the independent doctor who examined him and approved his return to the game in Miami has since been fired by the NFL Players Association. Both the league and players’ union (NFLPA) investigated the incident, ultimately clearing the Dolphins of any wrongdoing.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said Friday that Tagovailoa was cleared of a concussion in each of the four days between that incident against the Bills and the September 29 game in Cincinnati. In the latter, Tagovailoa was slammed into the turf by Bengals nose tackle Josh Tupou and ultimately carted off the field after 12 frightening minutes.