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Tom Savage takes scary hit but returns to game before leaving

Scary moment in Sunday’s Texans-49ers game: Houston quarterback Tom Savage took a hard hit early in the second quarter, bounced his head off the turf, and then began reacting.

49ers linebacker Elvis Dumervil drove Savage to the ground in the Texans’ end zone. As Dumervil rose, Savage’s arms began rising and twitching in a fashion reminiscent of “fencing response,” an unconscious response that occurs when the brain has suffered some form of trauma. We stress that we’re not trained medical professionals here, and can’t diagnose a concussion or injury from a grainy video, but this certainly isn’t a good look.

Even worse: Savage returned to the game about three clock minutes later. He threw two incomplete passes on a three-and-out series, and then team doctors began examining Savage in detail. Apparently unsatisfied with what they saw on the sidelines, they escorted Savage to the locker room and T.J. Yates took over.

Early in the third, the Texans made the call:

It’s too early to speculate on what was or wasn’t handled properly during Savage’s examination and return to the game. But based on similar concussion exam-related concerns this season with Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Indianapolis’s Jacoby Brissett, you’d hope the Texans would do all they could to keep a concussed quarterback off the field.

Tom Savage had a rough day against San Francisco. (Getty)
Tom Savage had a rough day against San Francisco. (Getty)

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.