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Trevon Diggs of the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas Cowboys two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs was forced to sit out his first game of the season on Sunday — the Cowboys’ 44-22 trouncing of the Washington Commanders — and the reasons why are still not clear. All that has been publicly revealed is that Diggs suffered some kind of “accident” at his home on Thursday evening, and then showed up the following day at the Cowboys’ practice facility exhibiting concussion symptoms.
Diggs was examined by doctors and placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol, and as a result, ruled out of Sunday’s game. On Monday, however, the Cowboys made a new announcement that appeared to only make the seriousness of Diggs’ situation worse.
According to the statement by head coach Brian Schottenheimer, Diggs again came to work on Monday at the Cowboys’ facility only to be examined by doctors again — and sent home again. Schottenheimer said that Diggs remained in the concussion protocol.
Diggs Concussion More Serious Than First Beleieved
That would appear to indicate that whatever happened to Diggs at his home, it did indeed result in a significant concussion. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on Monday that he expected Diggs to return for next Sunday’s road game in Denver against the Broncos.
But Jones admitted that his opinion was not based on any medical information.
“I haven’t had a doctor’s report today at all,” Jones told reporters. “But I don’t think the nature of his injuries is something that would impact us for multiple weeks ahead.”
However, given that Diggs is still suffering from symptoms severe enough for him to be sent home, he appears to have at least a mild concussion — an injury that generally takes about two weeks to heal, according to neuropsychologist Dr. Kenneth Podell, director of the Houston Methodist Concussion Center.
“I might say two weeks, or I might say a month, but it’s not uncommon for it to take a few weeks or more to fully recover,” Podell said, as quoted on the Houston Methodist web site.
Diggs Could Miss At Least Two More Games
If the Houston Methodist doctor’s analysis is correct, the Cowboys could expect Diggs to miss Sunday’s game and possibly also their Week Nine Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals.
But what happened to Diggs? According to the Cowboys owner, Diggs told him the details of what had occurred — but Jones did not believe him.
“He said what happened, and I’m not saying that didn’t happen,” Jones said, as quoted by Heavy.com writer Perry Miller Carpenter. “But a lot of times, you’re not the best viewer of what happened to you.”
But Jones’ statements expressing his belief that Diggs would be back on the field sooner rather than later could signal that the events conveyed by Diggs to Jones were seemingly minor.
According to Podell, however, the force of a blow to the head is not necessarily related to the severity of the concussion that results.
“When it comes to concussion, the really critical factor is how much and how quickly the head twists,” Podell explained, in the Houston Methodist article. “Even a minor blow can cause a concussion if it forces the head to turn rapidly — even just 20 degrees.”
Without a statement from Diggs himself, what caused the concussion remains a mystery, but the question of when Diggs will be back playing cornerback for the Cowboys will only be answered with time.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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