Mychal Rivera, Mike Jenkins both suffer concussions vs Titans

The Raiders had two players leave their week 12 game with head injuries - tight end Mychal Rivera and cornerback Mike Jenkins. They both left the field under their own power and now must go through the concussion protocol if they hope to play next week vs the Cowboys.

The first of the two concussions was pretty obvious. It was midway through the second quarter that Mychal Rivera caught a pass over the middle and as he was going to the ground, Titans' safety, Michael Griffin, came full speed and led with his helmet on Rivera to knock his helmet off and lay him out on the field.

The hit was an obvious personal foul in which Griffin blatantly targeted Rivera's head. With Rivera on his way down, Griffin had to track him down low and target his head to even be able to make the hit which you can clearly see in the picture above.

Following the hit, Rivera laid out unconscious flat on the field as several players from both teams knelt to pray. It is pretty surprising he was able to get back up and walk off under his own power.

Not only did Rivera's helmet came off but the collision knocked the ball out and it was ruled an incompletion. This means after the personal foul penalty, it actually turned out in favor of the Titans. That shouldn't happen but it did. Griffin can expect at very least a hefty fine from the league for the hit.

Jenkins' left with a concussion early in the fourth quarter when he came up to make a tackle on Titans' running back, Chris Johnson. He never lost consciousness and it wasn't long before he walked off the field under his own power with training staff.

The unfortunate thing for Rivera, Jenkins is the Raiders have a short week. They play the Cowboys on Thursday in Dallas so the concussion protocol will be much shorter. After what we saw from Rivera, I wouldn't expect to see him play Thursday. Jenkins' status seems more positive, but we'll see.