The NFL’s player safety and concussion protocols were drawn into the limelight for all the wrong reasons during Buffalo’s Week 5 loss to Houston on Sunday.
For the second week in a row, Bills quarterback Josh Allen found himself face down on the turf in a scene similar to the one in last week’s loss to Baltimore— a defender bearing down, an off-balance throw and a grimace-inducing blow to the head.
This story featured a new wrinkle, though: smelling salts.
The big hit Allen took late in Sunday’s game drew the attention of the league’s concussion spotter, though the quarterback promptly passed his evaluation and was cleared to return to play.
Allen huffed a smelling salt—a mixture of ammonia and other chemicals, used in the medical field to help revive people who have fainted—before trotting back out onto the field.
On the heels of yet another frightening concussion suffered by Dolphin’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in Week 2, the incident raised concerns about the comprehensives of league concussion protocols and the parity with which head injuries are evaluated.
“We all saw Josh Allen seemingly get knocked out, yet they just threw him a smelling salt and right back into the game,” Emmanuel Acho, the former linebacker turned analyst, posted to X. “As if that was going to undo any head trauma he just suffered.”
The incident occurred on a third-and-eight midway through the fourth quarter, with the Bills trailing the Texans by a field goal.
Flushed out of the pocket and running to his right with two Houston defenders closing in, Allen attempted to fire the ball away.
The first Texans defender wrapped Allen around the ankles. The second came flying in from over top.
Allen fell hard, smacking the side of his helmet against the turf. He remained face down, kicking his legs, as the team medical staff rushed onto the field.
The Bill’s quarterback underwent further evaluation in the blue tent where team doctors examined him for injuries to the chest and ankle. The NFL’s concussion spotter also ordered an evaluation of Allen.
Allen ultimately missed just one snap.
“They flagged me for hitting my head, but [I] felt good enough to go back into the game,” Allen told reporters during his postgame press conference.
Given the hastiness of Allen’s return, concern poured in from social media.
No official diagnosis was presented by Buffalo during or after the game.
“Josh Allen appears to have SUFFERED A CONCUSSION, they gave him SMELLING SALTS then allowed him to return to the game,” Dr. Jesse Morse wrote on X. “This should be a HUGE PENALTY and VERY risky for Josh Allen’s health. He could have suffered another concussion which could have caused second impact syndrome, which can be deadly.”
