linebacker Lerentee McCray #55 and inside linebacker Brandon Marshall #54 get to Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown #13 in the first half at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, OH, October 18, 2015 (Photo By Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
The NFL made great jumps to improve the awareness and treatment of on-field concussions. Those efforts have reduced the amount of dangerous early returns from concussions, but haven’t decreased the overall number.
NFL data released Friday revealed that there have been 271 concussions during the 2015 preseason and regular season, the highest since at least 2011. 2014 brought a four-year low of 206, but this season brought a drastic increase.
The majority of these concussions derived from helmet-to-helmet contact, which caused 92 concussions, another four-year high. That’s up from 58 in 2014. Helmet to playing surface contact was the second highest cause of concussions with 23 cases.
Practice concussions were at a four-year low with 37 recording during the 2015 preseason and regular season, but the numbers were boosted by 234 game concussions.
The NFL also reported 56 ACL sprains (all knee sprains are some degree of tears), which is about league average. MCL sprains reached a four-year high with 170 cases.
There were 6.6 injuries per game during Sunday and Monday contests during the regular season, a slight decrease from the 7.3 average in 2014. However, Thursday games recorded 5.7 injuries per game, a four-year high.
