The NFL will review its concussion protocol this offseason.
NFL senior vice president of health and safety Jeff Miller said Thursday, per The New York Times, team doctors and the league medical personnel will discuss the current concussion protocol at this year's combine later this month.
The league's concussion protocol was brought into the spotlight in December when Rams quarterback Case Keenum's head was slammed to the ground during the Rams' final drive in the team's 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11. Keenum held his head and struggled to get up. He eventually walked to the sideline and spoke to Rams trainer Reggie Scott before going back to the huddle and staying in the game after the conversation. After the conclusion of the game, Keenum was diagnosed with a concussion and was sidelined for the following two games.
Miller said Keenum should have been removed from the game.
"This demonstrates an area where there were definitely not best practices," Miller said, per The Times.
In December, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will continue to tweak its protocol.
"For clarity, we have the spotter upstairs that is a former athletic trainer and their job is, if they see a player that's in some type of distress, is to buzz down," Goodell said. "In the Case Keenum case, it was clear that there was somebody giving him medical attention and that that was already done. The problem we had was that the appropriate medical attention wasn't given and there were several gates that, frankly, failed and didn't do the right things for our protocol. So we're trying to make changes to that."
He added: "We're going to continue to tweak that until we get it right and try to prevent ... make sure the game is stopped so the player has the right medical attention. That's always the issue. The independent neurologist is involved and will be always be involved once the player comes to the sideline."
"(Keenum) should have been removed from the play, but it wasn't the ATC spotter," Goodell said. "The ATC spotter is just to make sure the medical personnel sees (these) individuals ... We did not want the ATC spotter, making some type of evaluation from the top of a stadium."
