Cleveland Browns WR Andrew Hawkins suffered a concussion during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several members of the Browns have had multiple concussions over the past two years, including cornerbacks Joe Haden and K'Waun Williams.
This is Hawkins' second concussion of the season, and his second in as many games. He last played on October 25th, when he appeared to suffer a concussion while attempting to tackle St. Louis Rams DL Nick Fairley after the lineman had recovered a fumble (watch the video of it here).
Hawkins made his return against the Steelers after missing two games. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hawkins caught a 12-yard pass on 3rd-and-goal from the 19 yard line to set up a 4th-and-goal from the 7. ILB Lawrence Timmons made the tackle, and the two had words after the play for a second or two. Then, S Mike Mitchell came up from behind to have a couple of words with Hawkins before they got ready for the next play.
Manziel was intercepted by Mitchell trying to make something happen on fourth down. That's when Hawkins took a vicious hit from OLB Jarvis Jones:
Jarvis Jones absolutely destroyed Andrew Hawkins on Mitchell INT. #Steelers https://t.co/t7WDKfDyte
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) November 15, 2015
After the game, the Browns acknowledged that Hawkins had been taken to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for overnight observation. Hawkins' brother, Artrell Hawkins, later posted the following to Facebook, updating friends and family on Hawkins' status:
Artrell Hawkins posted this on Facebook about Andrew's head injury. Hoping for a speedy recovery for @Hawk pic.twitter.com/CSFz0unNDb
— Jay Morrison (@JayMorrisonCMG) November 16, 2015
Neal Coolong of the USA Today has a detailed breakdown of footage showing Hawkins' confrontation with Steelers players before the interception, and the targeted hit after the interception.
We wish Hawkins the best of luck in his recovery. The team has a bye week coming up, but you have to wonder if this might be a situation where they think about his long-term health and place him on injured reserve. If that were to happen, WR Darius Jennings, who has been on the practice squad all year, could get the call-up.