Vikings' J.J. McCarthy appeared to use smelling salts to stay in game after concussion

Billy Heyen

•
Vikings' J.J. McCarthy appeared to use smelling salts to stay in game after concussion image

The news came out on Monday that J.J. McCarthy is in concussion protocol.

It's a bit surprising, because McCarthy never left the Minnesota Vikings' game on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

Social media sleuths did appear to find the moment when the head injury may have occurred.

And a negative shows up at the end of the clip: McCarthy appears to use smelling salts to regain his focus and stay in the game.

There was a big to-do in the offseason about smelling salts, headlined by 49ers tight end George Kittle pushing back, and in the end, they weren't banned.

This is a moment where, if everything is as it appears, they seem to be a negative.

McCarthy ends up staying in the game with a potential head injury.

It is a bit odd that the NFL's independent neurologist at this game didn't notice that McCarthy had had his head driven into the ground and then been slow to get up. That's why they're there in the first place.

But regardless of that, it's not a great clip for the NFL to have surface a day after McCarthy's head injury may have happened.

More news:

Contributing Writer