New England Patriots wide receiver Nelson Agholor took a knee when pleading with the refs to stop play because he believed teammate DeVante Parker was injured.
The Patriots played the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football in a matchup in which both teams suffered significant injuries. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had a non-contact injury three plays into the game, which resulted in him being carted off the field.
Later in the first quarter, Parker caught a pass from Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and was immediately brought down to the grass, head first. Parker had a tough time getting up off the ground and, at one point, needed to be held up by his teammate, Cole Strange.
Monday Night Football color commentator Troy Aikman quickly noticed something wasn’t right with Parker.
“Oh, he’s a little banged up,” Aikman said. “They’re going to be watching him; somebody upstairs should be. He looked a little wobbly coming up after he comes up off the ground.”
The Patriots tried to rush the next play because they were not sure if Parker made the catch and wanted to snap the ball before the Cardinals had a chance to challenge the catch. Agholor was lined up next to Parker and could see he was in pain.
Agholor decided to take a knee to prevent the play from happening. That didn’t work, so he flared his arms back and forth to get the referees&
Agholor walked over to Parker to assist him to the Patriot sidelines as there was a timeout on the field.
“I think, Troy, you hit on another important part of that DeVante Parker does not look right getting up at the end of that play,” play-by-play announcer Joe Buck added.
The NFL has concussion spotters at each game to point out a player they feel might have a concussion, and those spotters can pull the player immediately. Parker should have been removed from the game to get an evaluation, not because his teammate, Agholor, tried to stop play by taking a knee.
Parker was ruled out of the rest of the game and was evaluated for a concussion. The Patriots beat the Cardinals 27-13.
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