Jamaal Charles didn’t want to undergo concussion protocol after big hit vs. Chargers

Of course, “seeing stars” is one of the symptoms of a concussion. With the NFL placing more of an emphasis on preventing concussions and identifying them when they do occur, it’s a wonder that Charles didn’t go through any concussion testing following the collision.

UPDATE 3:23 p.m. ET: Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said that Charles was checked for a concussion Sunday and has undergone concussion protocol after his comments from Tuesday, according to Adam Teicher of ESPN. Charles passed three concussion tests Tuesday night and another Wednesday morning. He will still be monitored this week.

Charles admitted that he didn’t want to go through the testing protocol:

“I didn’t have a concussion but it definitely was a hit that shocked me. But I don’t think I had to go through the concussion protocols and all that. I didn’t want to go through that again because of what happened in the playoffs. I was definitely fine, I think I came out pretty good,” Charles said.

In last year’s playoffs, the running back suffered a concussion in the first quarter of the AFC Wild Card against the Indianapolis Colts. Charles missed the rest of the game and Indianapolis mounted a historic comeback to win. Sunday against the Chargers, he continued to play after the hit and Kansas City pulled off the upset on the road.

Charles’ self-diagnosis comes just a week after the controversial remarks Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis made about concussions and how the media was making them out to be worse than they really are.