Texans' Bill O'Brien says he never saw video of Tom Savage shaking after injury
Texans head coach Bill O'Brien says he didn't see the video of quarterback Tom Savage's hands shaking, seemingly involuntarily, after a hit from the 49ers' Elvis Dumervil. Savage left the game for one series before returning after being evaluated for a concussion. After a "quick check," O'Brien said that he told trainer Geoff Kaplan to give Savage another look.
NFL PR chief Joe Lockhart said that the league is looking into whether or not the Texans circumvented concussion evaluation policy. "Together we will conduct a thorough review of the incident, focused on whether the protocol was properly followed," he said, via ESPN. "But we're also continuing looking at the protocol to look for ways to improve and strengthen it."
O'Brien said that had he seen the aftermath of the hit, he "would have never let [Savage] back in the game," per ESPN.
O'Brien went on to say that "It wasn't anything that I particularly saw on the field, I just said, look, that was a quick check. It was a three-and-out on that series. Let's continue to check him to make sure that the player, Tom Savage, is OK. They went, they checked him, they came to me, they were not satisfied with his answers to the questions that they were asking him, and they pulled him from the game."
After being criticized for what some thought was passing blame in his post-game conference, O'Brien responded on Monday. "At no point in time in my coaching career [has] there been anything more important to me than the safety of our players," he said. "I love our players, and I care about them. And I cannot stand when players get injured. Anybody that's been on the sideline of a football game knows that from a coaching standpoint, you really can't see things like that, especially when the ball is in certain areas of the field."
This isn't the first time that teams have allegedly shirked the protocol. The Seahawks seemingly avoided getting Russell Wilson properly checked, when they lowered the tent over him before he immediately ran back out. No sanctions were handed to the Seahawks for the incident. The same has happened with Colts QB Jacoby Brissett.
Savage is not expected to start against the Jaguars, with T.J. Yates filling in. The Texans are now 4-9 and effectively out of playoff contention, and are now simply looking to play spoiler.