Kansas City Chiefs starting WR JuJu Smith-Schuster suffered a concussion during the Week 10 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. They managed to win the game without him, but ahead of a Week 11 game against the Los Angeles Chargers on “Sunday Night Football” there is one big question on everyone’s mind: “Will Smith-Schuster be able to play in the game?”
There’s no easy answer to the question. The NFL’s return-to-participation protocol lede states that every player and every concussion is unique, with no set timetable for a player’s return. It’s entirely possible to recover from a concussion and play within seven days. It’s also equally possible that Smith-Schuster’s symptoms persist and he’s ruled out ahead of the game.
The only thing that we know for certain is that Smith-Schuster is in the NFL’s concussion protocol and there are five steps that he’ll need to go through as part of the NFL’s return-to-participation protocols. The goal of all of these five phases is to ensure that Smith-Schusters’s neurocognitive state returns to baseline functionality, at which point he could return to play. After he goes through these five steps, an INC (Independent Neurotrauma Consultant) will also have to clear him.
Let’s take a look at each of the steps and what they entail for Smith-Schuster during the upcoming practice week: