Bears Linebacker Leonard Floyd On Suffering Multiple Concussions: "You Don't Think The Same"

After suffering two concussions in a five-week span, Chicago Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd had his rookie season cut short last year—with effects that have lingered well into the offseason, he says.

“You just don’t feel normal. You know, it’s this thinking part, like you don’t think the same,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times in an interview published today. “I wasn’t thinking like I normally would think. And then I’d be staring off in space some times instead of paying attention.”

He sustained his first concussion against the Giants on November 20 and was carted off the field, but doctors cleared him to fly home with the team and he played the next week. His next concussion came on December 24, at which point his season was shut down and he was told not to begin any form of workouts until his symptoms lifted. That wasn’t possible for more than two months, he said.

Both concussions came from collisions with a teammate on tackle attempts, allowing the Bears to place the responsibility for the injuries on Floyd due to poor technique.

“I definitely gotta be aware, because I don’t wanna get another concussion and sit out games,” he said. “I gotta make sure I play every game.”

[ Chicago Sun-Times]