RENTON, Wash. (AP) Coming off the second concussion of his career, Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright said Thursday he believes any player that suffers a concussion should be required to sit out at least one game.
Wright missed last Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams after he was not able to pass the league mandated concussion protocol in time to be able to play. Wright was fine with the decision.
”The NFL needs to make it mandatory to where you miss one game if you have a concussion. Because you’re just not right,” Wright said.
”I don’t care if anyone says that they feel fine. I think you should miss one game if you have a concussion, because it’s your brain and you’ve got to protect that brain.”
Wright was injured late in the third quarter of Seattle’s 30-24 loss at Jacksonville on Dec. 10. Wright said he didn’t take on a block correctly and suffered the head injury.
Missing the game against the Rams snapped a lengthy consecutive games streak for Wright, but it was worth it considering the symptoms he was experiencing after the Jacksonville game.
”Doing certain things makes you dizzy. The light hurts your eyes. If the light is hurting your eyes why are you playing a football game the following Sunday?” Wright questioned. ”You got a concussion for a reason and you’re going to put your brain back through the same thing? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Wright, 28, admitted that when he was younger he would have had a different view of the situation. Now that he’s older, married and has a family, his views on the significance of head injuries have changed.
”As you get older you get a new perspective of life, you start having kids, you get a wife and at the end of the day it’s just a game. It’s a really important game, but it’s still just a game,” Wright said.
”The older you get the wiser you should get. I realize different things. Twenty-three year-old K.J. probably would have tried to play through it. Which is not smart, it’s kind of dumb.”
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K.J. Wright says players with concussion should sit 1 game
