LIONS NOTEBOOK: Concussion woes for Durant, Scheffler
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Chicago Bears running back Marion Barber (24) runs the ball at Detroit Lions defensive end Willie Young (79) and outside linebacker Bobby Carpenter (59) during an NFL football game in Detroit, Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)
ALLEN PARK — On one of the uglier plays in the Monday night game, Lions tight end Tony Scheffler got hit in the back by Brian Urlacher. He couldn’t finish the game.
On Tuesday, Schwartz said the Scheffler had concussion-type symptoms.
He’s the second Lion who is dealing with concussion issues.
Linebacker Justin Durant suffered a concussion late in the win at Minnesota. He missed the game at Dallas, but was cleared to practice last week in preparation for the Bears. At the end of the week Durant said he felt good.
Schwartz said Durant had more concussion symptoms in pre-game warm-ups so he was held out of the game.
“He’ll need to go through the whole protocol to get back on the practice field and back on the, you know, cleared for contact. It’s one thing to be cleared for practice, (it’s) another thing to be cleared for contact,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said.
With Durant’s setback, it’s uncertain when he will be able to return.
“With concussions … it’s not a situation that you can tough out and there’s no timetable,’’ Schwartz said. You know, I’m the king of not presenting timetables, but even if I was, I couldn’t do it with concussions, because that’s one of those things you just have to, you know, objectively let symptoms clear and I think the League has taken a good stance on that — the teams have followed suit and that’s a big player safety issue, not just for the players now, but as they go on throughout their lives.”
For the second straight game Bobby Carpenter got the start at outside linebacker in place of Durant and played well. He finished with three tackles — two for losses.
“Bobby practiced for most of the week. Justin practiced, but Bobby practiced also, and Bobby is an experienced player. He’s played a lot of football for us and prepares himself to start every single week, so that wasn’t really so much of an issue,’’ Schwartz said.
“It was on our radar going into the game. We wanted to make sure that we were making the right decision. If you’re going to err on the concussion, you’re going to err on the side of caution,’’ the coach added.
Home sweet home
Schwartz had a message for the Lions’ fans who were unbelievably loud on Monday night which created havoc for the Bears’ offense.
He wants them to keep it up on Sunday.
“ I don’t know what the record, but nine false starts is an awful lot. That helped in the game and there is no reason for that other than that other than the crowd noise,’’ Schwartz said.
“It wasn’t like they are a undisciplined team or they are a team that has had major troubles with that or anything like that. It was total result of the crowd and how loud our fans were,’’ he added.
Short week
Due to the Monday night game, the Lions have to adjust their schedule in preparation for Sunday’s home game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The coaching staff worked Tuesday while the players had the day off. Usually the players and coaches go over film the day after a game, but they are eliminating that step this week.
Schwartz said he got about four hours of sleep Monday night before starting to prepare for the 49ers (4-1).
“It’s just the way the NFL works. You obviously don’t have time. That game is over and I doubt 7:30 in the morning comes around on Wednesday that anybody will have that game in mind. They will be moved on to San Francisco,’’ Schwartz said.
The players will have two walk-throughs on Wednesday instead of a normal practice.
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