THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley will see a specialist after suffering a concussion in the team’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Coach Mike Shanahan said Monday that Cooley will be evaluated over the next couple of days.
Shanahan said he wasn’t certain when the injury occurred, but fellow tight end Fred Davis said Cooley took a helmet-to-helmet hit.
"He was running a route, and a guy just ran straight into him with a head shot," Davis told Comcast SportsNet after Sunday’s game. "I think he continued to play for another few series, I think he even caught a couple of balls by the goal line, but I think you could tell a little bit that he wasn’t feeling as well. And when he came to the sideline you could just tell he was a little bit drowsy, couldn’t see out of his left eye a little bit for a second."
Other teammates that Cooley kept trying to play, which would appear to run contrary to the NFL’s "return to play" guidelines for head injuries. Shanahan said Cooley was just being competitive.
"Throughout my career, most people do try to do that," Shanahan said. "He’s a competitor, probably didn’t think it was anything big and wanted to go back in there. And we could see very quickly that something was wrong, and that’s why he was out."
Cooley appeared briefly in the locker room while it was open to reporters Monday but said he was on his way to a meeting and didn’t have time to talk.
The two-time Pro Bowl tight end had five catches Sunday and left the game in the third quarter. He has 28 catches for 340 yards and two touchdowns this season. He and Santana Moss have become Donovan McNabb’s primary targets. Third-year player Fred Davis would start if Cooley can’t play.
This was the second week in a row the Redskins have had a player suffer a concussion. Rocky McIntosh was hurt a week earlier against Green Bay and did not play against Indianapolis.
