Should Bears be worried about Floyd's future?

[Beast15]

Two concussions in five weeks is not good



Leonard Floyd - LB - Bears
Bears rookie OLB Leonard Floyd remains in the concussion protocol.
Floyd suffered his second concussion in five weeks Saturday against the Redskins. It does not make any sense for the Bears to play him in a meaningless season finale, and it would not be surprising if he landed on injured reserve later this week.

 

[jtreal3]

Damn

 

[NCChiFan]

Floyd, White, Hoyer, Mcknee, Wilson, Shaw, .... In fact, everyone who hit the IR this year, except Jay. Don't care.

 

[Bearly]

Not really. Fortunately he'll have some time to get his head straight before the next hit.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Definitely time to shut him down. He had a good season. Surpassed my expectations with 7 sacks.

 

[dabears70]

How many times do you see a OLB get concussions? It doesn't seem like very much because they play on the end of the line standing up so they don't use their heads to tackle as much as say a ILBer or MLBer does or other positions so that is a concerning thing for me.

 

[Smokey Robinson]

How many times do you see a OLB get concussions? It doesn't seem like very much because they play on the end of the line standing up so they don't use their heads to tackle as much as say a ILBer or MLBer does or other positions so that is a concerning thing for me.

He gets in on more run plays than a lot of 34 OLBs and plays off the line a fair bit. Biggest thing is he has played wreckless at times with his technique. Coaching staff needs to hammer that home this offseason.

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

The concussion thing worries me a little. I read a brutal article (I think it was in GQ) yesterday flying back home after the holidays. It was about Zac Easter, a High School football player who had 5 diagnosed concussions and several more un-diagnosed. He never played in college -- only in High School.

After missing half his senior year due to concussions, he quickly deteriorated and soon had daily piercing headaches, mood swings, depression, and decline in cognitive skills. He started seeing a speech therapist who declared he had a "3 minute memory." He would get lost every where he went, could not remember anything, and struggled to form complete sentences.

He saw psychologists, doctors, therapists, etc and he tried various medications (anti depressants, etc) but he kept getting worse and worse. Six years after his last game, he took his own life.

Now this isn't going to happen to every athlete who suffers concussions. Steve Young and Terry Bradshaw got hit in the head a lot and they appear to be fine. Some players are simply prone to degenerative brain disease -- but man, it's tougher to enjoy football seeing what it can do to people. Leonard Floyd might not have a concussion for another 4-5 years -- or he could be like Hunter Hillenmeyer and have it end his career. We don't know how its going to play out.

Floyd's production has surpassed my expectations. I thought he was a bust for sure. If he can stay healthy, he should have a good career. We need him, badly.

 

[legendxofxlink]

Chris Conte is still alive and playing, for what it's worth.

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

Chris Conte is still alive and playing, for what it's worth.

I would be willing to bet Chris Conte has CTE and will die well below life expectancy. He read some quotes from him saying he fully understands this and its a sacrifice he's willing to pay.

 

[Urblock]

If he gets one more he should retire. I've had 3 and they got worse each time. The last one took 2 years to wear off.

 

[Myk]

I had 7-8 concussions, dirt bikes mostly but other assorted childhood falls including probably knocked out falling through a stairwell at around 4.
Dr's don't seem to want to pin migraines or severe cervical arthritis on them beyond "could be". So I don't know how much faith regular Dr's are putting into the long term post-concussion syndrome the player union plays up.

That would make him eligible for IL's mmj, but the NFL has suspended Henderson twice for using it for Crohn's (and I have more faith in it for migraines than Crohn's symptoms beyond nausea) so unless Henderson's expected lawsuit gets them to change that policy that won't help if he does start getting headaches.

They do start getting worse with less. Last couple I was either completely out of it later that night or have a lot of blank spots of the night. I'd say from experience that's the point he'd get pushed out of the game, when a minor bump gets him blanking out.

 

[Spunky Porkstacker]

The concussion thing worries me a little. I read a brutal article (I think it was in GQ) yesterday flying back home after the holidays. It was about Zac Easter, a High School football player who had 5 diagnosed concussions and several more un-diagnosed. He never played in college -- only in High School.

After missing half his senior year due to concussions, he quickly deteriorated and soon had daily piercing headaches, mood swings, depression, and decline in cognitive skills. He started seeing a speech therapist who declared he had a "3 minute memory." He would get lost every where he went, could not remember anything, and struggled to form complete sentences.

He saw psychologists, doctors, therapists, etc and he tried various medications (anti depressants, etc) but he kept getting worse and worse. Six years after his last game, he took his own life.

Now this isn't going to happen to every athlete who suffers concussions. Steve Young and Terry Bradshaw got hit in the head a lot and they appear to be fine. Some players are simply prone to degenerative brain disease -- but man, it's tougher to enjoy football seeing what it can do to people. Leonard Floyd might not have a concussion for another 4-5 years -- or he could be like Hunter Hillenmeyer and have it end his career. We don't know how its going to play out.

Floyd's production has surpassed my expectations. I thought he was a bust for sure. If he can stay healthy, he should have a good career. We need him, badly.

Bradshaw went public with depression problems a few years back but has said meds have been very helpful.

 

[BearsFan51]

The literal question is:

Are people going to worry about players getting hurt playing football.

 

[billwade]

If he gets one more he should retire. I've had 3 and they got worse each time. The last one took 2 years to wear off.

I agree with you. It's the fact that they were so close together that's troubling. When it's coupled with the Bears history of first round flame outs, you almost know how this is going to go...

 

[Myk]

I agree with you. It's the fact that they were so close together that's troubling. When it's coupled with the Bears history of first round flame outs, you almost know how this is going to go...

Being that close together could be the reason for the 2nd. How long until the NFL goes to IR for the rest of the year for a concussion?

 

[Chicago Staleys]

Injury prone worries me more