Browns did not check McCoy until after game

BEREA, OHIO (AP) - Browns president Mike Holmgren said quarterback Colt McCoy was not checked for a concussion on the sideline following a hit by Pittsburgh’s James Harrison because he didn’t exhibit signs of having a head injury.

Holmgren finally addressed McCoy’s concussion Wednesday, one day after the team met with NFL medical officials and Players Association representatives to discuss the handling of the injury and ways to improve the NFL’s system on dealing with concussions. McCoy was laid out on vicious a helmet-to-face mask hit by Harrison, who has been suspended for one game without pay.

Holmgren said the Browns medical and training staff did not see the hit and did not realize the impact because they were treating other injured players at the time. McCoy was “lucid and talking,” Holmgren said, when they tended to him on the field.

“He didn’t display any signs of a concussion,” Holmgren said during a nearly one-hour news conference.

McCoy did not show any concussion-like symptoms until well after the game. Holmgren said McCoy was tested for a concussion in the locker room by one of the team’s doctors before the team’s flight to Cleveland.

McCoy was sent home with a headache before Wednesday’s practice and Holmgren said the team is following protocol to treat him. Holmgren believes the meetings on Tuesday with members of the league’s medical staff could result in “tweaks” to the league’s guidelines on testing for concussions.

Holmgren also defended Shurmur’s decision to send McCoy back into the game.

“I’m not going to second-guess Pat,” he said. “Pat’s in the front lines. He’s got to make the decision. (As a coach) if I feel the quarterback’s good to go, then he’s back in the game. That’s his call.”