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Jeff Fisher: NFL still examining concussion protocols

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In the wake of the concussion St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum suffered last week against the Baltimore Ravens and the circumstances under which he stayed in the game, the NFL held a conference call on Tuesday evening to discuss its concussion protocol.

According to a news release from the league, the call included the head athletic trainers for all 32 NFL teams as well as NFLPA Medical Director Dr. Thom Mayer, NFL Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Betsy Nabel, Head, Neck & Spine Committee Co-Chairman Dr. Hunt Batjer, NFL Physicians Society President Dr. Robert Heyer of the Carolina Panthers, and PFATS President Rick Burkholder of the Kansas City Chiefs.

But while the league statement revealed those participating in the call, it didn't offer much information on progress toward a solution.

"During the call, the team medical staffs discussed the events that led to the failure to remove St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum from Sunday's game, and reviewed the proper implementation of the league's concussion protocols to ensure that players are removed from the field for a medical evaluation as required by the protocols," the statement said. "Medical experts from the league and the Players Association will continue to review the protocols and make improvements as necessary to protect the health and safety of NFL players, including consideration of discipline for future violations of the protocols."

Keenum returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis and, according to coach Jeff Fisher, there's hope that he'll be able to do even more on Friday and start Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Fisher has declined to offer any ideas or solutions to help the process but has repeatedly stressed that he believes it's important to get it right so that a situation like Keenum's, where he played two more snaps after suffering the concussion, doesn't happen again.

“Well again, the league and all the entities involved are working to ensure that this doesn’t happen again," Fisher said. "The NFL, the Head, Neck and Spine Committee, the Players’ Association, the trainers and everybody’s discussed it. We had a very candid, open discussion and we’re working to ensure that we’ve got our bases covered right now. Obviously, things slipped through the cracks in our game with Case. As I said on Monday, don’t want to allow a player to stay in the game when those situations appear to be obvious. So, the league is going to continue to talk about it and we’re going to get it resolved one way or another. That would also include the officiating department.”