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Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave left Bank of America Stadium on a backboard and was taken to a local hospital after sustaining his second concussion of the season on Sunday.
The Saints said Olave had movement in all of his extremities.
Olave was hit in the head and neck area by Carolina Panthers safety Xavier Woods while attempting to catch a high pass across the middle of the field from Saints quarterback Derek Carr midway through the first quarter. Olave hit the ground and did not get up as officials threw multiple flags for unnecessary roughness on Woods. Players and coaches from both teams gathered around Olave as the medical staff worked to strap him onto a backboard and load him onto the cart.
Olave was able to move his feet and lifted his hands to give some of his teammates high fives before he was driven off the field while strapped to the backboard. It marked the third straight game in which Olave took a significant hit to the head and neck area.
Olave has now been put into the league’s concussion protocol for the fourth time in his three-year career and has missed two games with concussions. He sustained a concussion in his rookie season in 2022 in Week 5 and missed the following game. He was removed from a Week 12 game against the Atlanta Falcons last year with a concussion but played the next week.
He missed the Saints’ Week 7 “Thursday Night Football” game against the Denver Broncos after sustaining a concussion the previous week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also took a hard hit against the Los Angeles Chargers last week and had to pass neurological tests in the medical tent before returning to the game.
Olave recently switched helmets instead of opting to wear a Guardian Cap in games.
“I just felt like I had changed my helmet to the best helmet so the hit I took in the game, it didn’t really hurt as much as it did with the other helmet,” Olave said this week. “Once I switched helmets, I felt like I’d be good without the Guardian Cap.”
He said he wore his new helmet against the Chargers and felt he took less of an impact after taking a helmet to the shoulder area.
“I was good man,” Olave said this week. “I know every big hit they kind of check for concussions and stuff, especially with my history. I was good when I got up, though, so I knew I was going to be able to go back in.”