Tennessee responds to report that OL Brett Kendrick played with concussion

Tennessee head coach Butch Jones and athletic director John Currie responded on Wednesday to a report saying that a Vols player played in Saturday’s game with a concussion that the coaching staff knew about.

The Read Optional reported on Tuesday that Vols right tackle Brett Kendrick suffered a concussion against Kentucky and the coaching staff knew about it but still played him.

“He is resting in a dark room. He doesn’t remember anything about the second half of the game,” a text message to the Read Optional said. “They left him in until the last 22 seconds and only pulled him out because he finally threw up on the sideline.”

The Read Optional says Kendrick is in concussion protocol. They also say Kendrick told a member of the Vols’ staff that he was feeling woozy.

SEC Country adds info. They say Kendrick told the team’s offensive line coach that he wanted to stay in the game.

“We would never knowingly put a student-athlete in harm’s way,” Jones said Wednesday, via SEC Country. “Our medical staff has full authority on removing players from competition but also have the authority to return players to competition. I have absolutely no say in these decisions.”

Here’s the statement Currie released on Wednesday in response to the report:

Statement from Tennessee’s AD addresses concussion protocol but doesn’t make a statement on if protocol was followed. pic.twitter.com/nfAsY9rldZ

— Football Time in TN (@FootballTimeMag) November 1, 2017

It’s one thing to say that the team missed a player having a concussion and he played with it. That’s bad. But the far more serious charge is saying they knew he had a concussion and let him play, which is far worse, because that suggests they consciously put a player in harm’s way.