DENVER -- These scenes are becoming all too familiar for the Denver Broncos.
Defensive back Karl Paymah sustained a concussion in the second quarter Thursday night when he dipped his head and took a knee to the helmet from Arizona Cardinals running back Steve Baylark.
Paymah lay on the field for five minutes and the Broncos all knelt as he was tended to by medical personnel, who strapped him to a backboard and carted him off the field to an ambulance.
Paymah had feeling in his extremities and had passed a battery of tests but was hospitalized overnight, coach Mike Shanahan said.
The scene was eerily familiar to the one last December when former Broncos linebacker Al Wilson injured his neck in a collision with teammate Gerard Warren.
Earlier this month, the Broncos lost linebacker Warrick Holdman for the season when he injured his spinal cord on a running play in training camp.
Paymah's CT scan and X-rays were negative and the team was waiting word on results of an MRI, Shanahan said.
"They feel really good about where he's at," Shanahan said. "He's still going to stay overnight tonight for preventative purposes."
Hamza Abdullah, who also played with Paymah in Washington State's secondary, frantically signaled the trainers to come onto the field just as the play was whistled dead.
"It sounded like a car crash and I was just trying to get the trainers over there as soon as possible because it was scary," Abdullah said.
"I completely forgot about football for about five minutes. When you see your best friend laying there on the ground, can't move, non-responsive, I mean, it's painful to watch, very painful."
Broncos tight end Stephen Alexander also was hurt in the first half. He was taken out of the game after bruising his lower left leg when he dived to take out two defenders and spring wide receiver Domenik Hixon on a 43-yard reverse.
"He's quite sore right now," Shanahan said. "I don't think it's anything very serious. The X-rays were negative, so that's very positive."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
