Understanding the concussion protocol at West Virginia

West Virginia running back CJ Donaldson is currently recovering from the scary incident that unfolded in the second half of the Texas game but is in concussion protocol.

Donaldson, who lay motionless on the turf after what appeared to be routine play, had to be placed on a stretcher and carted to a local hospital for treatment. The true freshman appeared to his head on the knee of a Texas defender and immediately drew the concern of all involved.

Quick action by both West Virginia and Texas medical personnel led to Donaldson being able to be accurately stabilized and taken where he could get further medical attention.

Fortunately, Donaldson was released from the hospital and was allowed to travel back with the team given the fact that he was alert and had motion in all extremities.

Donaldson will not play against Baylor as head coach Neal Brown has already ruled him out as he proceeds through the stages of the concussion protocol. There were four other unnamed players that also had a concussion during the game and their statuses remain up in the air.

“What we talk about is if we think there is something off with a kid, we alert our medical team as soon as possible,” he said. “That happened with two of the guys that suffered concussions in the game. They were a little off and we said, ‘hey you need to check them,’” Brown said.

The protocol is produced by West Virginia doctors and medical staff and must be sent off and approved by the NCAA each season prior to the start of fall camp according to Vincent Blankenship, the assistant athletics director and head athletic trainer for football.

Once a player is in the concussion protocol, Brown has no bearing on when the player will return to the field as the athlete must be 24-hours symptom free before even beginning to advance through phases. After the athlete has proceeded with no symptoms, they must complete full concussion testing and be back at baseline or better testing before final clearance, Blankenship said.

But that timeframe can carry given each individual which makes the process varied.

“That’s why you see some guys take quite a bit longer than others. Now, CJ will be out for the Baylor game, I’ll say that. He’ll be out but the rest of the guys I think it’s too early to make a determination on,” Brown said of his players currently in the protocol.

Given the severity of the issues that could arise without following proper protocol, Brown is completely hands-off when it comes to the entire process. Now, it’s a matter of waiting and determining where each player is at in their steps in the recovery process.

“I do what I’m told on that,” he said.

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