NFL, NFLPA to Speak with Head Athletic Trainers in Wake of Case Keenum Injury

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the NFL and NFL Players Association will speak with the head athletic trainers from all 32 teams Tuesday to go over the league's concussion protocol.   

The conference call will come after the St. Louis Rams allowed Case Keenum to remain in Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens after he showed visible signs of having suffered a concussion. Baltimore defensive end Timmy Jernigan sacked Keenum in the fourth quarter, and after the hit, Keenum was unable to stand without the help of a teammate. The play occurs at the 2:28 mark of the video below:

The NFL's concussion protocol stipulates that teams have one athletic trainer serving as a "spotter" in the booth who looks for players demonstrating any concussion-like symptoms. An independent neurological specialist is also supposed to watch from the sideline.

Either the "spotter" or specialist is supposed to remove the player for further evaluation should he or she find the need to do so.

Rams head athletic trainer Reggie Scott did speak with Keenum on the field after the hit but opted to let him keep playing, per ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jim Thomas reported the booth "spotter" refrained from contacting the Rams sideline about Keenum after he saw Scott assessing the player.

"I didn't see him struggle to get up," said Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. "I didn't see anything from my vantage point on the sideline of Case's slow recovery. The shots you've seen of him struggling to get up, I didn't see that."

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the league will look into the Rams' handling of Keenum. Even if no individual associated with St. Louis was ultimately at fault, the situation illustrates the need for the NFL and NFLPA to clearly reiterate every step in the concussion protocol.