On the day the Seahawks were fined $100,000 by the NFL for not properly following the league's concussion protocol in relation to an injury Russell Wilson suffered in November, another high-profile Seattle player returned to full duty after suffering a concussion of his own _ linebacker K.J. Wright.
And Wright, who sat out last week's game against the Rams with a concussion suffered the previous Sunday at Jacksonville, offered only praise for how the team handled his situation.
"They asked me a bunch of questions, took me in the locker room, shut me down," said Wright, who was injured with 1:53 to play in the third quarter on Dec. 10 at Jacksonville. "I think they did good through the week. The doctors were really good in communicating with me. No one pressured me coming back. So they did a good job."
The experience, though, left Wright with an eye-opening thought _ that no NFL player should be allowed to play for at least a week after being diagnosed with a concussion.
"The NFL needs to make it mandatory to where you miss one game if you have a concussion because you are just not right," Wright said. "I don't care that anyone says they feel fine. I think you should miss one game if you've got a concussion because it's a brain and you've got to protect that brain because you've only got one."
Wright, who has been with the Seahawks since 2011, then elaborated on the sensations he experienced last week.
"I mean it's just dizzy," he said. "Doing certain things makes you dizzy. The light hurts your eyes. If the light hurts your eyes, why are you playing a football game the following Sunday? Because you've got a concussion for a reason and it's a brain, so you are going to put your brain through the same thing? That doesn't make any sense to me, so I think you should miss a game."
The concussion was the second of Wright's career having also suffered one that caused him to miss a game against the Vikings in 2012.
Wright, who is now 28, said back then he might have been more inclined to try to convince the team he could play.
"As you get older you get a new perspective of life," said Wright, who is married and has an 18-month-old son. "You start having kids, get a wife, and you realize that at that at the end of the day it's just a game. It's a really important game. But it's just a game. So the older you get, the wiser you should get, and so I realize different things. ... 23-year-old me would have probably tried to play through it, which is kind of dumb."
Wright was injured when he took a hard hit on a lead block by Jacksonville fullback Tommy Bohanon that powered the way for a 14-yard run by Jaguars' running back Leonard Fournette.
If some wondered if the hit was legal, Wright said he had no issues with it.
"The only person who said that was my mom," Wright said. "I was like 'what are you talking about?' I've got to do better as far as squaring up. One of my old coaches told me 'you've got to square up on that fullback. You can't hold your head in that position.' So that was all my fault. ... it was legal. He's a fullback. That's what he's supposed to do."
Seattle's run defense has fallen off a cliff without Wright and with middle linebacker Bobby Wagner ailing the last two weeks with a hamstring injury.
Wagner went out early in the third quarter against Jacksonville with a hamstring injury and then returned last week to play into the third quarter but was obviously limited.
Since Wright was injured, Seattle has allowed 305 yards rushing on 61 carries in five quarters plus two plays.
Wright watched from the sidelines last week as the Seahawks allowed 244 yards rushing to Todd Gurley and the Rams, the most Seattle had given up since 2010 _ the year before Wright arrived.
Sunday's game against Los Angeles, in fact, marked the first Wright had missed since the 2013 season, snapping a 61-game consecutive starting streak that had been the second-longest among any active linebacker.
"It was terrible," Wright said. "And it was tough to watch. Everything they did was really simple. We've just got to be accountable to ourselves, guys be accountable to the team. Play good team football. Because it's not that hard to stop a running play that they run all the time."
But Wright, who of players on the team's current active roster has been with the Seahawks longer than all but punter Jon Ryan and safety Earl Thomas, is expecting a rebound performance Sunday in Dallas against the Cowboys and standout second-year running back Ezekiel Elliott.
"I don't have any concerns because everybody is still pretty positive," he said. "I feel like I'm coming back and that will help bring some things that weren't there _ the communication, the experience. Just certain things. So I think we are going to bounce back. I talked to the defense and yesterday (Wednesday) was one of the best practices we have had in a long time. So I think we are going to be just fine."
