During Thursday night’s game against the Broncos, Chargers safety Jahleel Addae appeared to be suffering from the symptoms of a concussion. At one point he looked disoriented and seemed to go into a convulsion while remaining on his feet, but he stayed in the game while fans on social media questioned why he was still playing while displaying such obvious distress.
Now the Chargers have admitted that Addae had a concussion.
After the game, Addae said he was evaluated on the sideline and had only suffered a stinger, but on Friday night the Chargers acknowledged that Addae did, in fact, have a concussion. The Chargers say he was cleared on the sideline during the game but diagnosed with additional tests on Friday.
It’s troubling that Addae kept playing and troubling that fans watching on TV could see something was wrong with him but the Chargers’ medical staff couldn’t. The Chargers have a history of allowing players to stay on the field when they’ve been concussed: Chargers guard Kris Dielman was staggering around on the field in 2011 but wasn’t immediately taken out of the game. His concussion turned out to be so severe that he never played again.
Chargers coach Mike McCoy became defensive when asked about Addae on Friday, telling reporters, “I was at the game. I was watching the game. I was there. I was watching it.” The Chargers’ medical staff should have been watching Addae more closely. He had no business continuing to play.