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Doyel: QB Anthony Richardson's concussion was the news but Ryan Kelly's could be worse

INDIANAPOLIS – Ryan Kelly suffered a concussion, too.

Maybe you missed it. Maybe that’s our fault. Maybe it’s mine. We were so overwhelmed by the news Sunday that Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson had suffered a concussion in the first half of the Colts’ 31-20 victory at Houston, we mostly glossed over – OK, we mostly ignored – the same injury in the same half suffered by the guy who snaps him the ball.

You can understand. We live in a star culture, and there is no bigger star in this town than the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. And when that star leaves his second NFL game with a concussion that in real time nobody saw – nobody even suspected – it’s a big deal.


Doyel from Sunday: Anthony Richardson was concussed by a hit everyone missed

The details of Kelly’s concussion are even more mysterious than those involving Richardson, because with Richardson we can go back and see the collision that likely caused the damage. It was his second touchdown run, when he was cruising into the end zone as Houston safety M.J. Stewart blasted him with a helmet-to-helmet hit, the back of Richardson’s helmet bouncing off the turf in Houston.


In hindsight the hit was clearly violent – doubly so, because of the hit and the way his head slammed into the turf – though everybody missed it in real time. Which is kind of scary.

But with Kelly, we have no clue when it happened. Could’ve been any of the dozens of collisions he endures every game in the trenches. Which is even scarier, when you think about it.

Assuming you're thinking about Ryan Kelly.


Yes, Anthony Richardson's concussion was a big deal

This wasn’t an IndyStar thing, OK? It was everywhere. Find a newspaper or website and search for references to Anthony Richardson’s concussion in Houston. Now look for references to Ryan Kelly’s concussion. See my point?

But I do work for the IndyStar, and I did contribute to what you’re about to read:


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In the hours after it ended we posted 10 stories about the game, including seven stories devoted to Richardson’s concussion. We posted one story about Kelly. Of the seven stories about Richardson, one focused on his immediate future under the headline: “What are the steps for Anthony Richardson (concussion) to return to play?”

No mention of Ryan Kelly, who faces the same steps as Richardson.


It’s discouraging how the world mostly glossed over – OK, mostly ignored – such a serious injury suffered by anyone on the Colts, much less a player as good (three Pro Bowls) and popular as Ryan Kelly. Hey, pointing a finger at myself here too. My column after the game was about Richardson’s concussion, and how in this day and age of quarterback importance and concussion awareness, nobody had a clue Richardson might’ve been hurt on a play where his head suffered two traumatic blows.

Do this for me: Put down your phone for a second and pull up the story on your laptop. Hold down the “ctrl” and “F” keys together. Ctrl-F is how you “find” something in Chrome or Microsoft Windows. You have a Mac? Can’t help you. That thing speaks its own language, but I can assure you of this: Whatever your computer preference, you won’t find the words “Ryan” or “Kelly” in my story.

Shame on me. Especially considering the following:

This was Kelly’s second NFL concussion, and his first one was bad. It happened in the 11th game of the 2017 season, and after he missed three games, the Colts shut him down for the final two. One concussion, five games? That’s Tua Tagovailoa territory, who missed five games last season. And Tua suffered two concussions, missing two games after he was knocked out cold against Cincinnati and then the final three games after suffering another one against Green Bay, where the back of his head bounced off the ground, similar to the way Richardson’s helm—

Jeez, Gregg. Can you stop talking about Richardson’s concussion in a story about Ryan Kelly?

Besides, the Colts are going through it now. Two games into the season, four Colts have appeared on the injury report with a concussion. It started with linebacker Shaq Leonard, who suffered his during the joint practice with Chicago on Aug. 16; he hasn’t missed a game. In the opener against Jacksonville, tight end Drew Ogletree became the Colts’ second player with a concussion. He cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol in time to play Sunday at Houston, but the Colts left him inactive.

Then came Sunday, when two more Colts were added to the concussion list. One was the team’s franchise quarterback. The other was not.

Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly (78) warms up on the field Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, before a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
But this was Ryan Kelly's third concussion

Not to belabor the point, but this happened after the game Sunday in Houston.

Reporters traveling with the Colts asked coach Shane Steichen 11 questions, total, according to transcripts provided after the game. Six of those 11 questions were about Anthony Richardson’s concussion.

Times Steichen was asked about Ryan Kelly: Zero.

Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew II was asked six questions – four about Richardson, zero about Kelly.

Hell, even Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud was asked about Richardson’s concussion. Nobody asked for his thoughts about Ryan Kelly.

Richardson’s future is of the utmost importance, but in the real-world kind of way Kelly’s concussion is more problematic. It’s the second of his NFL career, and third since his senior season at Alabama, when he suffered a concussion against Texas A&M on Oct. 17, 2015. He played the next week against Tennessee.

According to a study earlier this year at the University of Oxford – reportedly the largest study of its kind – “three concussions seems to be a turning point for brain issues, and further injury worsens symptoms.”

According to a Harvard study of college football players, offensive linemen were more likely to suffer concussions than any position group. Not what you’d expect, given the way we more easily notice what happens in the open field, where the collisions look worse. But the plight of Hall of Fame center Mike Webster of the Steelers – who was never diagnosed with a concussion in 220 career games but whose brain was found to have the disease we now call chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – has informed our awareness of the violence in the trenches, of the repeated smashing of heads that take its terrible toll.

Was it a terrible smash to the head Sunday that sent Ryan Kelly to the sideline, where he self-reported his concussion symptoms? Or was it just another play in the trenches, remarkable only for the diagnosis delivered later?

Or did you – did I – not find it remarkable at all?