During the second quarter of the Jacksonville Jaguars 38-31 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, backup running back Bernard Pierce committed a pretty serious mental error on a Jaguars punt where instead of going after the Buccaneers returner, he turned around mid-play and started blocking a Buccaneers player.
It was a mental error unlike anything most of us have seen, as Pierce's body motion -- the way he turned his hips, how he engaged his opponent in blocking, etc... -- showed that it wasn't just a slip up. This was Pierce actually believing the Jaguars were returning the punt.
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But during head Gus Bradley's press conference on Monday afternoon, when asked about the above play, he intimated this mental error occurred because of a concussion that Bradley believes Pierce suffered at some point in the game before this play.
A reporter asked Bradley about the play. The reporter didn't bring up Pierce's concussion, or imply any reason for it. He simply said:
"The [Bernard] Pierce play. How bad is that?"
Bradley's response?
"It is. It’s not a good play at all. When I saw it I couldn’t believe it, but I know he’s in the concussion protocol. I know after the game he had concussion symptoms. That’s where I’ll leave it at that, the play itself if you watched it."
Bradley was then asked if Pierce had suffered a concussion before the above play.
"I don’t know. I imagine so."
Did that concussion contribute to the play?
"Yeah, I’m sure, I mean he’s in the concussion protocol. It’s just unfortunate that he had those symptoms and that play happened."
This is not good.
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