Kuechly didn't have a concussion to begin with.

[xav8tor]

52 minutes ago, Peppers90 NC said:

so what exactly happened for him to miss the rest of the game? just precautionary?

There are various triggers to pull a guy off the field for a sideline eval. Slow to get up, hard hit, etc. There's a trained guy in a booth watching for this kind of thing. Player comes to sideline and screened by the doc. If concussion is suspected, off to the locker room for an extensive assessment. Evidently, signs, symptoms, test results, or some combination thereof, led to a Dx of concussion as defined in the protocol, so in he went. Same day return to game is prohibited, if for no other reason than the assessment takes much longer than the game does.

[xav8tor]

Per Person, Luke in sweats again today. No further details yet on specific activities.

Update: Seen on the bike. Sounds like stage two, no more than three.

[rainwater]

4 hours ago, KittyLover said:

Maybe they want the bears to assume he's not playing. 

Unless you are saying the doctors decisions are dictated by the coaching staff's game strategy, I doubt that is true. Otherwise, the team doctors could lose their license to practice. 

[Shufdog]

[pepaw]

So I'm assuming this is bad and he's advancing at a level indicative that he did suffer a concussion? 

[shulasmyhero]

whole bunch of assuming going on in this thread...  how about we wait until they tell us what his status is?

All we know is that he's in the protocol.  Don't know if he suffered a concussion or not.  Don't know what stage of the protocol.  Don't know when he might get out.

Ron said yesterday in his press conference he'd be evaluated by doctors today.  Wouldn't expect anything meaningful to be shared until Thursday or Friday but who knows.

[xav8tor]

24 minutes ago, pepaw said:

So I'm assuming this is bad and he's advancing at a level indicative that he did suffer a concussion? 

For the millionth time (not directed at you, but almost everyone...almost), he is in the CONCUSSION protocol. A player gets there because a) he took a hit that triggered a sideline screening, b) the screening concluded further evaluation was necessary in the locker room, and c) after a full assessment and battery of tests, he showed signs or symptoms of a concussion and/or test results were below his individual baseline, such that he either was diagnosed with one, or applying a common model, it could not be ruled out. Therefore, per the protocol, he's in the protocol.

Once in, you're in, and as previously stated, MUST progress through the stages before returning to play. Again, no time limit and tons of professional discretion. None of the aforementioned is uninformed assumption, but my reading of the protocol and related documents. No, I didn't read every word, but I read a lot of it.

The fact that he's even out at practice is a good sign, if you want to attach a meaning to it. Because he was jogging and stretching, pure applied logic says that means he's at least in stage two, and depending on what he's doing behind closed doors/gates, he could be at three, even four. Assessment is ongoing. Once he meets the criteria of no symptoms and return to baseline, the team physician clears him and the consultant has to do the same. At that point, he MAY return to the field. Rivera could still hold him out, just like last year.

Of all the assumptions in this thread, the ones that bother me most are the ones that refuse to acknowledge the possibility, if not probability, that not one, but two, physicians qualified in neurological diagnostics saw fit to put Luke in the protocol on the assumption that they have a reason other than that's the reason it exists. Seems like sticking your head in the sand to me, not that I never saw more than one patient or family member do that very thing. Pretty common, but other than a temporary protective reaction, seldom productive.

Hopefully good news is coming soon...for everyone...except the Bears.

[pepaw]

31 minutes ago, xav8tor said:

For the millionth time (not directed at you, but almost everyone...almost), he is in the CONCUSSION protocol. A player gets there because a) he took a hit that triggered a sideline screening, b) the screening concluded further evaluation was necessary in the locker room, and c) after a full assessment and battery of tests, he showed signs or symptoms of a concussion and/or test results were below his individual baseline, such that he either was diagnosed with one, or applying a common model, it could not be ruled out. Therefore, per the protocol, he's in the protocol.

Once in, you're in, and as previously stated, MUST progress through the stages before returning to play. Again, no time limit and tons of professional discretion. None of the aforementioned is uninformed assumption, but my reading of the protocol and related documents. No, I didn't read every word, but I read a lot of it.

The fact that he's even out at practice is a good sign, if you want to attach a meaning to it. Because he was jogging and stretching, pure applied logic says that means he's at least in stage two, and depending on what he's doing behind closed doors/gates, he could be at three, even four. Assessment is ongoing. Once he meets the criteria of no symptoms and return to baseline, the team physician clears him and the consultant has to do the same. At that point, he MAY return to the field. Rivera could still hold him out, just like last year.

Of all the assumptions in this thread, the ones that bother me most are the ones that refuse to acknowledge the possibility, if not probability, that not one, but two, physicians qualified in neurological diagnostics saw fit to put Luke in the protocol on the assumption that they have a reason other than that's the reason it exists. Seems like sticking your head in the sand to me, not that I never saw more than one patient or family member do that very thing. Pretty common, but other than a temporary protective reaction, seldom productive.

Hopefully good news is coming soon...for everyone...except the Bears.

Ty for clarification. 

[t48]

4 hours ago, xav8tor said:

For the millionth time (not directed at you, but almost everyone...almost), he is in the CONCUSSION protocol. A player gets there because a) he took a hit that triggered a sideline screening, b) the screening concluded further evaluation was necessary in the locker room, and c) after a full assessment and battery of tests, he showed signs or symptoms of a concussion and/or test results were below his individual baseline, such that he either was diagnosed with one, or applying a common model, it could not be ruled out. Therefore, per the protocol, he's in the protocol.

Once in, you're in, and as previously stated, MUST progress through the stages before returning to play. Again, no time limit and tons of professional discretion. None of the aforementioned is uninformed assumption, but my reading of the protocol and related documents. No, I didn't read every word, but I read a lot of it.

The fact that he's even out at practice is a good sign, if you want to attach a meaning to it. Because he was jogging and stretching, pure applied logic says that means he's at least in stage two, and depending on what he's doing behind closed doors/gates, he could be at three, even four. Assessment is ongoing. Once he meets the criteria of no symptoms and return to baseline, the team physician clears him and the consultant has to do the same. At that point, he MAY return to the field. Rivera could still hold him out, just like last year.

Of all the assumptions in this thread, the ones that bother me most are the ones that refuse to acknowledge the possibility, if not probability, that not one, but two, physicians qualified in neurological diagnostics saw fit to put Luke in the protocol on the assumption that they have a reason other than that's the reason it exists. Seems like sticking your head in the sand to me, not that I never saw more than one patient or family member do that very thing. Pretty common, but other than a temporary protective reaction, seldom productive.

Hopefully good news is coming soon...for everyone...except the Bears.

Sooooooooo for the record is it safe to say this is his 3rd concussion?

[Paa Langfart]

I don't understand why this is so difficult for people to understand.  Luke was concussed.

[xav8tor]

28 minutes ago, t48 said:

Sooooooooo for the record is it safe to say this is his 3rd concussion?

It's safe to say two physicians trained to diagnose concussions, specifically in NFL players, one of whom is independent, evaluated Luke using a standardized diagnostic battery, and concluded that he should be placed in the concussion protocol. 

If you want to conclude that this means he sustained a third (known) concussion, it would be logical, although a conclusion that one could not be ruled out would also be a valid assumption. 

I have a hard time believing that they would put him through this without, at bare minimum, strongly suspecting he has one. Finally, IMHO, concussions are like surgery. There's no such thing as a minor procedure when you're the one under the knife.

[trueblade]

http://www.espn.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/27711/experts-say-panthers-shouldnt-rush-luke-kuechly-back-on-the-field

Quote

There also is some debate over whether Kuechly actually suffered a concussion. ESPN's Adam Schefter, per sources, said the team doesn't believe Kuechly did. Rivera would not address Schefter's story, saying only that Kuechly is in the protocol and advancing through the five-step process to return.

Whether Kuechly has or doesn't have a concussion doesn't change that he can't return to the field until he passes all five steps of the league's protocol. Right now, it doesn't look like that will happen in time for Sunday. 

Emphasis added.

[NAS]

Can we close this pointless thread already?