Freep - Zack Follett of the Lions knew something was wrong when he stumbled to his feet after delivering a big hit on a kickoff in the first half of Sunday's loss to the Eagles, but he wasn't about to take himself out of the game. "My whole family was down visiting from California, so the last thing I was trying to do was get out of that game," he said. "I just kept on playing, do what I had to do."
Follett suffered a concussion and was held out of practice Wednesday because he "didn't do so hot" on a brain activity test he took Tuesday. He said he passed concussion tests like counting backward on the sideline Sunday, but played the second half "in kind of a dream." "I was able to play and get through it," he said. "But it was kind of after the game when the headaches and stuff kind of set in." Follett said he never had a concussion previously and wasn't worried about the long-term effects of playing through an injury. "I'll deal with it when the time comes," he said. "I'm not too worried about it. It's in God's hands, not mine."
Coach Jim Schwartz said Follett "wasn't exhibiting any signs of" a concussion Sunday, although he was noticeably woozy when he got up from the play and attended to immediately by trainers. "He stumbles around a lot anyway," Schwartz said. "When he makes a hit, he does that sort of stagger away from it. He did it a bunch last year. It's hard to read too much in, but we'll err on the side of caution with those, we'll get him all checked out, and we're not going to put a guy out there that doesn't know what to do or doesn't have all his cognitive senses." Follett must pass concussion testing before he can play.
I'm a little upset that Zack didn't mention that I was watching the game and that was the real reason he played through the concussion, but whatever. Truth be told, this whole thing sucks hard. Just when we're down to our last breath at linebacker, we lose one of the guys we could count on to go 100% on every play. I mean Follett isn't some athletic wonder and he'd be the first to tell you that, but having guys who don't ever quit on a play and who are willing to stick their head in a meat grinder are the type of guys you want on your defense. I just really hope that this is a minor thing and it doesn't linger week after week because with Follett's propencity to make and take big hits this seems like it could be the type of thing that gets serious in a hurry. But then again the guy is a warrior who'll play through anything if he can pass that NFL concussion test. Get better soon Z and if you can't go this weekend we should consider picking up JP off of waivers and have her carry your ass around to make tackles.
PS - Don't know of too many teams that have starting linebackers on kickoff coverage. I'm just saying.
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