After Westbrook's first concussion, suffered Oct. 26 against the Redskins, Westbrook sat out two games. The Eagles running back sat out until the headaches subsided and until he was responding normally to all the cognitive tests mandated by league policy. He sat out until he was examined by the "independent" experts in Pittsburgh, guys with good reputations who also happen to have a financial relationship with the Steelers and the league.
"I learned from the doctors that you won't have a high risk of getting [more] concussions if you heal completely," Westbrook said. "That's the number one thing. You have to heal completely."
Everything about the NFL's guidelines was followed to the letter. He passed the tests. He was symptom-free. He suited up for the Nov. 15 game in San Diego, and they patted him on the back and sent him in.
And he got a second concussion.
"I was not healed completely," Westbrook said. "The training staff and the coaching staff, we did every test we could, but until you go out there and get hit, you're not so sure if you're healed completely or not. It's not like an ankle or a knee."
No, it's like a brain, and the doctors can't offer you a replacement for that later in life.
"I'm concerned about how things will happen for me in the future, how having concussions now will affect me 20 or 30 years from now," Westbrook said.
The documented evidence, although this doesn't come from those independent experts operating within the tent of the NFL, is that every concussion makes the next one more likely. An accumulation of brain injuries has been shown to lead to cases of dementia in later life.
