TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are of to a 3-3 start this NFL season.
Inconsistency has plagued the up-and-down Buccaneers, who have had sporadic bouts of poor play on both sieds of the ball.
In fact, one of the only consistent elements of the 2022 Bucs is injuries - from Ryan Jensen's training camp knee injury to tight end Cameron Brate's recent bouts with concussion-type injuries.
On this episode of our To The Point Already podcast, anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk football player safety and concussions with Spectrum Sports reporter Katherine Smith and Dr. Dusty Narducci, who specializes in sports medicine and concussions.
"At this point in the season, no roster is 100% (injury free)," Smith said. "You're always going to have to deal with injuries and that is when your depth comes into play. We're seeing a lack of depth in some positions for the Bucs."
Meanwhile, a recent spate of concussion-type injuries is being heavily scrutinized across the league.
The NFL’s concussion and diagnosis protocol states that potential signs of a concussion include: “Slow to get up from the ground or return to play following a hit to the head” which “may include secondary contact with the playing surface,” and “motor coordination/balance problems of neurologic etiology (stumbles, trips/falls, slow/labored movement).”
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in the first half of a Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals and had to be stretched off the field and taken to a hospital. Four days before the Cincinnati game, Tagovailoa took a hard hit against the Buffalo Bills and appeared disoriented when he got to his feet.
After he was examined and no signs of head injury were found under the NFL’s protocol, Tagovailoa returned to start the third quarter, prompting an investigation by the NFL Players Association into the handling of his injury.
Meanwhile, the Bucs explained that Brate experienced delayed concussion symptoms in the team's 41-31 loss to Kansas City Oct. 2.
Team officials said Brate was checked three times and only complained of shoulder pain before being allowed to re-enter the game just before halftime. This week, Brate had just been cleared from concussion protocol before the Pittsburgh game when he suffered a neck injury against the Steelers and was carted off the field.
Dr. Narducci said it can be difficult to evaluate player conditions in the moment but that staffs overwhelmingly err on the side of caution.
"It's very subjective," said Narduci, also a team doctor for University of South Florida athletics. "There's so many aspects. You don't want to stop them from playing, that is their job. But you have to keep them safe."
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Spectrum Bay News 9 anchor Rick Elmhorst sits down with the people that represent you, the people fighting for change and the people with fascinating stories to ask the hard questions.
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