Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie suffered a concussion on a hit to his head Sunday by Philadelphia Eagles safety Kurt Coleman.
Collie had movement and was alert in the locker room, the team said.
Collie lay on the ground for several minutes in the second-quarter while trainers worked on him, then was placed on a stretcher as players from both sidelines stood and watched and the crowd fell silent. At halftime of the Eagles’ win, the Colts announced his condition.
The second-year receiver dropped a pass over the middle after he was hit by safeties Quintin Mikell and Coleman. Although Mikell was penalized for hitting a defenseless receiver, replays showed Coleman made contact with Collie’s helmet.
Since the NFL cracked down on hits to the head and neck area on Oct. 19 after a spate of them the previous weekend, there were few such fouls. The league has threatened suspensions for illegal hits to defenseless players, saying they have no place in the game.
Collie was turning with the ball when he was hit and dropped it, making him a defenseless player. He fell to the ground and never appeared to move as he was worked on as Colts and Eagles players took of their helmets and looked on, several appearing to pray.
Also in the game, Eagles guard Max Jean-Gilles also left with a concussion and safety Nate Allen left with upper back and neck injuries. Jean-Gilles left in the first half.
Allen needed back and neck X-rays, which were negative, after he left in the second quarter. Allen was down for several minutes after he was hurt on a tackle.
The defending Super Bowl champion Saints lost another key member of their offense when Jeremy Shockey left with a rib injury.
X-rays on the New Orleans tight end were negative after he was injured scoring a touchdown on his 500th career catch. Shockey staggered to his feet and then walked to the locker room. He was sent to the hospital just before halftime.
“We took him just to make sure there was nothing else more serious,” coach Sean Payton said.
Also in that game, Carolina’s Matt Moore was replaced by rookie Jimmy Clausen after hurting his right shoulder on a sack. Moore was brought down by defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis on third down early in the second quarter. Carolina had already lost running back Jonathan Stewart to a head injury in the first quarter.
In Detroit, Matthew Stafford’s return to the Lions’ lineup lasted less than two games.
The quarterback hurt his right shoulder again late in his team’s 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Jets.
With the Lions leading 20-10, Stafford was tackled trying to scramble deep in his own territory and landed on the shoulder. He separated the same shoulder in the season opener and missed the next five games, not returning until last week’s win over Washington.
It’s not clear how serious this latest injury is.
“He’s very sore,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “We took enough time with it that we thought that, any re-injury would be a new injury. We’ll see where he is with that.”
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