It turns out that Jaguars running back Bernard Pierce might not have been confused, but rather concussed, when he blocked for the wrong team during the Jacksonville's 38-31 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Bernard Pierce may have blocked the wrong guy because he had a concussion
The strangest play of the weekend might not have been a gaffe after all.
Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
“When I saw it I couldn’t believe it, but I know he’s in the concussion protocol,” Jaguars coach Gus Bradley said to reporters on Monday when asked about the play, via Big Cat Country. “I know after the game he had concussion symptoms. That’s where I’ll leave it at that, the play itself if you watched it.”
The play occurred during the second quarter, on a 58-yard punt return by Buccaneers running back Bobby Rainey. Instead of attempting to tackle Rainey, Pierce, who is on the Jaguars' punt coverage team, turned around and blocked a different Buccaneer as if it was his team returning the punt.
When asked on Monday by a reporter if Pierce had suffered a concussion before the play, Bradley answered that he wasn’t sure, but he also added the Pierce has entered the concussion protocol.
“It’s just unfortunate that he had those symptoms and that play happened,” he said.
Pierce said he didn’t know how the mistake happened.
“I don’t know,” Pierce said. “I really don’t have an answer for you.
“I can’t really explain it.”
Why Pierce was allowed back on the field if he had indeed suffered a concussion injury on a previous play is unclear. It’s not immediately evident when Pierce may have suffered the concussion during the game. The punt return where he blocked the wrong player happened in the second quarter.
The biggest question raised by Bradley’s revelation is why Pierce was allowed to play after suffering a head injury.
According to the NFL’s concussion protocol, any player who is believed to have suffered a head injury is supposed to be pulled off the field and examined. The league even added independent injury spotters this year to help, putting them in the booth and giving them the power to call timeout when a player suffers a head injury.
Clearly, that did not happen in this case and nobody raised a red flag when Pierce blocked the wrong team on the play in question.
This is the second incident from Week 5 in which a player was allowed to play after suffering head injury. Texans running back Arian Foster put himself back into Thursday’s game against the Colts for one offensive series after taking a shot to the head. He later was pulled and tested, before being cleared to return for the second half.
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