Yahoo Sports 
Time to take injuries in the final minutes more seriously
In a week in which several of the league's biggest names were carried off the field with injuries, a rookie left the day's most lasting image: that of a wounded player being dragged away to satisfy referees and preserve a chance at winning.
The story: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were down two to the St. Louis Rams in the closing seconds of the game, driving and trying to set up a field goal. Quarterback Josh McCown found rookie Mike Evans at the Rams' 32-yard line, and with eight seconds remaining, there appeared to be enough time to spike the ball and set up for a 49-yard field goal attempt.
But Evans, the No. 7 pick in this year's draft, suffered an injury on the play. And because Tampa Bay had no timeouts remaining, Evans had to get off the field or the game would end, because by rule 10 seconds would be run off the clock.
Problem was, Evans could barely move. So first his teammates, then his trainers tried to drag him away.
You can see it play out in this sequence:
If that sequence doesn't make you queasy, knowing the sad fate of many former NFL players still suffering from injuries sustained during their playing days, well ... it might be time to push away from the fantasy lineup a bit.
For reference, this is the wording of the rule for last-second penalties:
A team cannot buy an excess time out for a penalty. However, a fourth time out is allowed without penalty for an injured player, who must be removed immediately. A fifth time out or more is allowed for an injury and a five-yard penalty is assessed if the clock was running. Additionally, if the clock was running and the score is tied or the team in possession is losing, the ball cannot be put in play for at least 10 seconds on the fourth or more time out. The half or game can end while those 10 seconds are run off on the clock.
You can understand why this rule is in place. The NFL knows that without such a rule, you'd have teams pulling their best Al Czervik impression to try to game the system:
A good coach can communicate an entire series of downs in the time it takes to help one player off the field, so you know that there's plenty of opportunity to cynically manipulate the system.
Here's the thing, though: the NFL is up to its chinstrap in litigation, potential litigation, theoretical litigation, and, lest we forget, actual injured players. The last thing it needs is to be taking a cavalier attitude toward any kind of injury.
Ah, but how then to keep players from pulling a Czervik of their own? Simple: trust but verify. Any injury that's serious enough to keep a player from getting off the field in a timely fashion is serious enough to still be apparent to an independent doctor after the conclusion of the game. (It's a testament to how far the NFL's credibility has fallen that the idea of using a team doctor to perform such an exam is laughable.)
If the player truly was injured, then the NFL and the team have done the right thing. If there's a bit of acting going on, well, that puts us where the NFL shines: levying punishment. Fine the team six figures, strip away draft picks, bench the would-be Oscar-winner. No one ever got a concussion paying a fine.
The NFL has enough problems with terrible optics. Dragging injured players off the field to avoid the implacable judgment of the refs is a medieval image that belongs in the league's past.
The ten-second rule has to go.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Facebook or on Twitter.
