Leonard Floyd struggled with concussion symptoms long after suffering his second of the season on December 24th.
Leonard Floyd had an excellent rookie season for the Chicago Bears. Floyd showed off his athleticism on a regular basis and had a definite knack to get to the quarterback. Floyd was even dominant at times, but his rookie season did come with some missed games, as it seems was the case with every key Bears player.
Floyd’s situation wasn’t an ankle sprain or a fractured thumb, his situation was far more serious. We remember the scary situation when Floyd was carted off the field against the New York Giants. Floyd was diagnosed with a concussion and unfortunately for the rookie OLB, Floyd suffered a second concussion on December 24th against the Washington Redskins.
It was the symptoms that followed the second concussion that were rather frightening. Floyd talked about how the symptoms lingered for two months afterwards and his brain just wasn’t right.
Per Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, Floyd met with the media and had this to say about his post concussion symptoms:
"It took me two months to really feel like I was back to myself. I was just at the house relaxing and getting my mind back together, and after those two months, I felt back the same. You just don’t feel normal. It’s the thinking part. You don’t think the same. I wasn’t thinking like I normally would think. And then I’d be staring off into space sometimes instead of paying attention."
Two months of your brain being in a fog should be terrifying for anyone and shows just how serious concussions are for NFL players. The Bears obviously hope that Floyd is fully back and shows no more symptoms from his concussions and proves that he is not prone to concussions and that his rookie season’s issues were due to poor technique and that the concussions were two isolated incidents and that Floyd is not concussion-prone.
Floyd appears to be set to become one of the top pass rushers in the league, but his long-term health has to be a concern. The Bears have to focus on Floyd’s technique to make sure he avoids head-to-head collisions and hope that keeping his head up with keep his head healthy.