NFL Announces 25 Percent Decrease in Concussions During 2018-19 Season

The NFL saw a significant year-to-year reduction in diagnosed concussions last season.

Per ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert, the NFL announced Thursday a total of 217 diagnosed concussions from practices and games during the 2018 season. 

That represents a 25.4 percent drop from 2017 when a total of 291 concussions were diagnosed. 

NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills shared his thoughts on the reduced injury rate before acknowledging there is still work to be done to keep advancing player safety measures:

"As physicians and scientists, we would all say if we had a disease and came up with a plan to attack it, a 25 percent reduction in one year is really a very positive start. At the same time, we have to say that the work is clearly not done. There is no finish line in health and safety. We're very pleased and proud of this start but there is more work to be done."

After last year's increase in concussions, Sills put forth a "call to action" during the Head, Neck and Spine Committee meeting at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine. 

"It's not OK, to simply stand behind that and say, 'Well, the numbers are going up because we're doing a better job.' I think to me this is really a call to action to see what we can do to drive it down," Sills said then, via Seifert. 

The NFL added further safety measures prior to the start of last season. Rule changes included penalties when players lowered their heads to initiate contact with their helmets and no running starts before kickoffs to reduce high-impact collisions.

A number of players, including Russell Wilson, Alex Smith and Golden Tate, started wearing newly designed helmets that provide better head protection.

There will likely be more rule tweaks made in the future as more information and data become available, but the 2018 results are a good sign for the NFL's safety precautions moving into the future.