Concussion

SIDNEY CROSBY has a broken jaw and is out indefinitely after being hit in the mouth with a puck during a win against the New York Islanders on Saturday. The Pittsburgh Penguins said on the team website Sunday that Crosby had surgery Saturday night, and there will be an update on his status later in the week. Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, was struck in the face during the first period of the Penguins' 2-0 win. Slow-motion replays showed multiple teeth flying out of his mouth after the puck struck him during his first shift.

For Flyers forward Danny Briere, the news keeps getting worse. The Flyers announced Monday that Briere would be sidelined indefinitely because of a concussion. He was injured during Saturday's practice in Voorhees, crashing into the boards during a drill. Defenseman Nick Grossmann was injured at Friday's practice and is day to day with an unspecified upper-body injury. "That's part of hockey, and that happens," said defenseman Kimmo Timonen before the team released the extent of Briere's injury.

PHOENIX - The NFL wants to put the shoulder back into football and take the helmet out. It took a significant step toward accomplishing that Wednesday when the league's owners overwhelmingly approved a rule-change proposal that will make it illegal for offensive or defensive players to initiate "forcible contact" outside the tackle box by delivering a blow with the crown of the helmet. The proposal passed by a 31-1 vote. The only club to vote against it was the Cincinnati Bengals.

PHOENIX - Concussions are dominating the conversation at the NFL owners meetings this week. The owners are expected to vote Tuesday or Wednesday on yet another rule-change aimed at reducing concussions and convincing people that they really, really care about player safety. This one would make it illegal for both offensive and defensive players to deliver a blow with the crown of the helmet outside the tackle box. The owners also will be updated Tuesday on the status of the concussion-injury litigation filed by more than 4,200 former NFL players against the league.

Only 33, Brian Westbrook already suffers from short-term memory loss. He can't remember names, recall facts, or retain new material moments after he's told them. Westbrook can trace his health problems to at least a pair of concussions suffered during a shortened nine-year career. That is why the former Eagle advised current Birds running back LeSean McCoy to take his time returning from a concussion last season. McCoy missed four games but refused to sit out the final two games for further rest because he called himself a "competitor.

HALL OF FAME quarterback Troy Aikman once said that if the NFL really wants to reduce the risk of concussions in the game, it should get rid of helmets. His semiserious rationale was that helmets are more weapon than protective device. Take them out of the game and players wouldn't be so willing to lead with their heads. The NFL isn't ready to deep six helmets quite yet, but it's doing its best to dissuade players from using them as a weapon. The latest attempt to concussion-proof pro football is a proposal by the league's competition committee that would make it illegal for both ballcarriers and tacklers to use the crown of the helmet to deliver a forcible blow outside of the tackle box. We're not talking helmet-on-helmet.

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger should have had a stirring retirement celebration before Thursday night's game against Pittsburgh, saluting a career that will undoubtedly put him into the Hall of Fame. Instead, the charade continued. Pronger attended the game at the Wells Fargo Center, sat in general manager Paul Holmgren's suite and, perhaps because he is in the process of making a comeback (wink, wink), wasn't even acknowledged on the scoreboard. Earlier Thursday, during a news conference at the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, Pronger talked about trying to make a return from post-concussion syndrome.

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger insisted he has not given up hope that he can return to the NHL, but his words did not mesh with the news release handed out by the team on Thursday afternoon. In a wide-ranging, candid news conference at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, Pronger, who has been sidelined with post-concussion syndrome for nearly 16 months, talked about battling depression, updated his physical status, and revealed how he misses "going to war every night. " At the same time Pronger was saying his goal was to try to get healthy enough to return to the team, the Flyers gave reporters a release from a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center concussion expert, Michael Collins, who said that the defenseman had "significant vulnerabilities" and that he had advised him to not play hockey again.

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger insisted he has not given up hope that he can return to the NHL, but his words did not mesh with the news release handed out by the team on Thursday afternoon. In a wide-ranging, candid news conference at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, Pronger, who has been sidelined with post-concussion syndrome for nearly 16 months, talked about battling depression, updated his physical status, and revealed how he misses "going to war every night. " At the same time Pronger was saying his goal was to try to get healthy enough to return to the team, the Flyers gave reporters a release from a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center concussion expert, Michael Collins, who said that the defenseman had "significant vulnerabilities" and that he had advised him to not play hockey again.

IF ANYONE wants to resurrect the old "M*A*S*H" TV series, Nick Lindner is ready to star. Well, as long as any future injuries would be fake. During his just-completed senior basketball season at Germantown Academy, the 5-10, 155-pound guard dislocated a finger in practice and then, in games, suffered a sprained wrist along with two sprained ankles (left one each time) and a concussion. How does he feel now? "Never better!" he gushed. "It was awesome!" It was the winning, Saturday night at Malvern Prep, of GA's first championship in the Pennsylvania Schools Independent Tournament.