Bears safety Chris Conte suffered his second concussion of the season on Sunday, and coach Marc Trestman is getting concerned.
“You do have concerns when Chris has a history,” Trestman said., via ESPN “Certainly that’s relevant. When we put him back in the game, he had no lingering signs at all. He went through all the sideline protocol and went back out there, and then he came back out obviously because he did have some. So we’re hoping for the best.”
Conte left the game after suffering his concussion but then re-entered the game for one play before he came out for good. That is not supposed to be how the league’s concussion protocol works -- a player who has suffered a concussion is supposed to be held out for the rest of the game. Trestman acknowledged he’s not sure where the breakdown happened.
“That I can’t answer,” Trestman said. “I know that he came out of the game. He was clearly checked out. I asked to make sure that he was cleared convincingly and he went back in. . . . I wish I could answer that. I can’t.”
Conte has started every game this year and last year for the Bears. His streak will almost certainly come to an end on Sunday against the Falcons, as two concussions in one season would seem certain to cause him to miss a game. Maybe many games.