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Patriots WR Demario Douglas in concussion protocol for second time this season

Patriots

Under the league’s rules, Douglas must follow a five-step process prior to returning to practice.

This is Douglas’s second concussion through the first 12 weeks of his NFL career. His first came in Week 5 against the Saints. AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth

After taking a nasty hit to the head against the Giants on Sunday, Patriots rookie wide receiver Demario Douglas is in the NFL’s concussion protocol.

Douglas, 22, did not practice with the team on Wednesday as a result. He was listed on New England’s injury report with a concussion.

Under the league’s rules, Douglas must follow a five-step process prior to returning to practice. That process includes symptom-limited activity, aerobic exercise, football-specific exposure, non-contact training drills, and physician clearance to return to ‘full football activity’.

Douglas’s concussion occurred while fielding a punt in the fourth quarter in Sunday’s loss to New York. The Giants’ Cam Brown came in for the hit and clotheslined Douglas’s lower head and neck area, causing him to let go of the football and sending him to the ground. Officials opted not to throw a flag on the play.

The rookie took some time getting up after the play and was visibly shaken up. The Patriots ruled him out of the game shortly after.

New England players such as fellow wide receiver DeVante Parker vehemently disagreed with the fact that the hit did not get called for a penalty.

“That’s some [expletive],” Parker told MassLive’s Chris Mason. “The refs need to do something about that because that’s some [expletive]. … This ain’t no goddamn wrestling.”

Special teamer Matthew Slater echoed a similar sentiment after the game.

“I thought it was a hit that was not within the rules,” Slater told NESN’s Dakota Randall. “… I thought that was a dangerous play.”

This is Douglas’s second concussion through the first 12 weeks of his NFL career. He sustained a concussion against the Saints in Week 5 that kept him out of the Raiders matchup the following week.

Douglas, who has been one of the highlights in a Patriots season full of lowlights, has been one of quarterback Mac Jones’s top targets. The 22-year-old has yet to score his first touchdown, but has logged 11.4 yards per reception to this point. He has also recorded 410 yards on 36 catches.

Douglas’s longest reception so far this year went for 42 yards, recording that catch in the Patriots’ Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.