Adding injury to insult

Published on January 18, 2011 by Seahawks.Com News (Feed)     

The concussions that led to Marcus Trufant and John Carlson spending the night in a Chicago hospital left their teammates in a solemn mood after the loss to the Bears on Sunday.

Kelly Jennings was on the opposite side of the field, but he had an unobstructed view of the play that left fellow cornerback and friend Marcus Trufant with a concussion – and caused him to spend Sunday night in a Chicago hospital.

“It was real tough to watch, as long as I’ve known Tru,” Jennings said in a near whisper after the Seahawks had been slapped with a 35-24 loss in their divisional playoff game against the Bears at Soldier Field.

“You never want to see that happen to anybody. So I definitely prayed for him and trust that God will take care of him.”

Jennings and his teammates actually saw it happen twice on this day, as tight end John Carlson also went out with a concussion.

Carlson was injured on the Seahawks’ fourth offensive play, when his facemask was driven into the turf after he was hit while in midair by Bears strong safety Daniel Manning. Trufant was injured midway through the third quarter, while tackling Bears 262-pound tight end Kellen Davis.

Each play happened in front of the Seahawks’ sideline. Each player lay motionless for a considerable period. Each was strapped to a board and then taken off the field on a cart. Each was transported to a nearby hospital. Both spent the night for observation.

“Me being right there and seeing them laying on the ground and the different reactions, you never watch to see that,” Jennings said.

“I mean John was right there in front of our bench. It was tough to see him like that.”

Jennings had a more long-distance, but just as direct, view of Trufant.

“We were in a coverage where I saw the whole thing go down,” he said. “Again, it was difficult to watch what happened to Tru.”

Fortunately, coach Pete Carroll said what seemed like extreme measures were precautionary.

“Both those guys, all indications are they’re OK,” Carroll said. “They got serious concussions on the field, but the doctors handled it really well and did all the right stuff. But both are OK and there didn’t look to be any injuries past the fact that they had a concussion.”

Their teammates looked on solemnly on both instances, but did what they had to do – which was keep playing.

“That does have an effect, because we love the guys so much and they’re one of our guys,” Carroll said. “Everybody feels that. But I thought we responded and came back. There is an impact, because you care so much.”

Their teammates had ample time to examine each situation, because both Carlson and Trufant were down for a lengthy period.

“It took a long time,” Carroll aid. “There was a long stoppage in the game. But everybody’s a professional and they went back to work.

“We responded in that fashion.”

Tags: Chicago Hospital, coach pete carroll, Concussion, Concussions, Cornerback, Divisional Playoff Game, Extreme Measures, Facemask, Friend Marcus, God Will Take Care, John Carlson, Kelly Jennings, Marcus Trufant, Midair, Nearby Hospital, Seahawks, Soldier Field, Strong Safety, Tight End, Unobstructed View