Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 9:38:42 GMT -5
** Prompted by yankeejet22.............. FLORHAM PARK — One moment, Lorenzo Mauldin was pursuing Johnny Manziel on the MetLife Stadium turf, charging like a freight train to try to take the scrambling Browns quarterback down. The next moment, Mauldin came to in a bed at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. He would later learn that next moment didn't happen until the following day.
Mauldin, the Jets' rookie outside linebacker, has no memory of all that transpired in between: the Manziel fumble he and Muhammad Wilkerson teamed to force, the impact that knocked him out cold, the frightening attempt he made to get up and walk before falling flat on his face, being stabilized and loaded onto a stretcher, the worry in the voices of his teammates and head coach Todd Bowles, when his prognosis still wasn't clear.
"I don't remember any of that," Mauldin said.
This is the scary consequence of football. Mauldin didn't take a cheap shot. He wasn't targeting anyone, nor was he being targeted. He didn't break any of the game's rules. Mauldin was just a football player making a football play. His head paid the price. All of us who enjoy the game make an uneasy compromise with the constant possibility of this brutal reality.
PLUS: Geno Smith on punching incident: 'I didn't do anything wrong'
It's not clear exactly how Mauldin was hurt on that Sept. 13 play; Wilkerson was bringing Manziel down when Mauldin came crashing in from the back side of the play. Fellow linebacker Trevor Reilly also jumped into the fray as Manziel was brought to the ground and the ball came loose. Again, just a football play.
Mauldin was diagnosed a day later with a concussion and sent home. And he's aware—as so many players are these days—that it could have been worse, especially after early reports indicated he had suffered a neck injury.
"That's all I can say is I'm blessed," Mauldin said Wednesday, when he was back at Jets practice, though he didn't participate as he continues to progress through the league's concussion protocol.
"I've seen this happen to guys, and they weren't able to return to the game. I'm blessed that it wasn't a neck injury or a spinal injury or something that could have ended my career. All I can do is pray and thank God."
Mauldin hasn't watched video of what happened to him, nor does he want to. The game's warrior ethos requires him to make a different sort of uneasy compromise—with the effects the game can potentially have on his mind and body.
"I don't want to think about it," he said. "It's in the past. I don't want to see myself falling."
Mauldin's goal is to return to the playing field; he's hopeful he can be back for Sunday's game against the Eagles, but his continued progress according to the protocol will determine that.
Wide receiver B Drago was among those who visited Mauldin in the hospital, along with family and friends. Mauldin was told he had slipped in and out of consciousness through the night.
"I heard all of these guys, but I couldn't see them because I couldn't open my eyes," he said.
Mauldin had felt migraines before he was injured—a problem that's developed, he said, when he's sometimes in the sun, as he was that day he got concussed. After his release from the hospital, he didn't experience many headaches in the days that followed, but he was drowsy and fatigued. He wore sunglasses for a few days to ward off the light. He's since been prescribed tinted contact lenses to wear on game days.
The Jets went to Indianapolis and beat the Colts on Monday; Mauldin stayed behind to watch on television. He began doing physical activity the following day. He did a little more on Wednesday.
"Going through the concussion protocol and actually getting back up on my two feet is the main thing that I'm really thinking about," he said. "I'm trying not to think about what happened. I'm trying to think about where I can go from here."
by Dom Cosentino
Mauldin, the Jets' rookie outside linebacker, has no memory of all that transpired in between: the Manziel fumble he and Muhammad Wilkerson teamed to force, the impact that knocked him out cold, the frightening attempt he made to get up and walk before falling flat on his face, being stabilized and loaded onto a stretcher, the worry in the voices of his teammates and head coach Todd Bowles, when his prognosis still wasn't clear.
"I don't remember any of that," Mauldin said.
This is the scary consequence of football. Mauldin didn't take a cheap shot. He wasn't targeting anyone, nor was he being targeted. He didn't break any of the game's rules. Mauldin was just a football player making a football play. His head paid the price. All of us who enjoy the game make an uneasy compromise with the constant possibility of this brutal reality.
PLUS: Geno Smith on punching incident: 'I didn't do anything wrong'
It's not clear exactly how Mauldin was hurt on that Sept. 13 play; Wilkerson was bringing Manziel down when Mauldin came crashing in from the back side of the play. Fellow linebacker Trevor Reilly also jumped into the fray as Manziel was brought to the ground and the ball came loose. Again, just a football play.
Mauldin was diagnosed a day later with a concussion and sent home. And he's aware—as so many players are these days—that it could have been worse, especially after early reports indicated he had suffered a neck injury.
"That's all I can say is I'm blessed," Mauldin said Wednesday, when he was back at Jets practice, though he didn't participate as he continues to progress through the league's concussion protocol.
"I've seen this happen to guys, and they weren't able to return to the game. I'm blessed that it wasn't a neck injury or a spinal injury or something that could have ended my career. All I can do is pray and thank God."
Mauldin hasn't watched video of what happened to him, nor does he want to. The game's warrior ethos requires him to make a different sort of uneasy compromise—with the effects the game can potentially have on his mind and body.
"I don't want to think about it," he said. "It's in the past. I don't want to see myself falling."
Mauldin's goal is to return to the playing field; he's hopeful he can be back for Sunday's game against the Eagles, but his continued progress according to the protocol will determine that.
Wide receiver B Drago was among those who visited Mauldin in the hospital, along with family and friends. Mauldin was told he had slipped in and out of consciousness through the night.
"I heard all of these guys, but I couldn't see them because I couldn't open my eyes," he said.
Mauldin had felt migraines before he was injured—a problem that's developed, he said, when he's sometimes in the sun, as he was that day he got concussed. After his release from the hospital, he didn't experience many headaches in the days that followed, but he was drowsy and fatigued. He wore sunglasses for a few days to ward off the light. He's since been prescribed tinted contact lenses to wear on game days.
The Jets went to Indianapolis and beat the Colts on Monday; Mauldin stayed behind to watch on television. He began doing physical activity the following day. He did a little more on Wednesday.
"Going through the concussion protocol and actually getting back up on my two feet is the main thing that I'm really thinking about," he said. "I'm trying not to think about what happened. I'm trying to think about where I can go from here."
by Dom Cosentino
