Terrelle Pryor request for tinted visor cause for shut down

There have been a lot of theories about what happened with Terrelle Pryor Saturday night that caused Dennis Allen to shut him down. Many of those theories were of the conspiracy variety. The reason for the suspicion was the fact that the league had cleared him for full contact on Friday after going through the concussion protocol from a hard hit he took late the team's Monday night game against the Broncos.

Following Sunday's loss to the Redskins, the question came up as to why Pryor was inactive for the game and Allen said it was for with Pryor's best interest.

"We actually were at a point where we were ready to go with Terrelle. We visited with him one more time with the doctors and we just didn't feel good about letting him play. It just wasn't the right thing to do and we wanted to make sure we did right by him."

In his Monday press conference, Allen further divulged the specifics of what caused him to make his decision. He said the decision was made because Pryor requested to wear a tinted visor for the game.

Light sensitivity is a common symptom of a concussion and it was a definite red flag for the Raiders. The fact that symptoms were not apparent on Friday and cropped up on Saturday is the reason the league has a series of tests. Pryor would have had to pass another test before the game regardless and he likely would not have passed that test.

So, regardless of what you think of Allen or Matt Flynn, sitting Pryor was the right decision. Concussions are nothing to mess around with. Allen doesn't want to further endanger his starting quarterback. And after what we saw on Sunday from Matt Flynn, they will need Pryor healthy to have any chance.