PITTSBURGH (AP) -James Harrison insists it wasn’t as frightening as it looked.
Harrison injured his neck during the final play of the first half in Pittsburgh’s 26-3 victory Sunday over Buffalo, causing a halftime ceremony honoring former Steelers stars to be delayed as he was treated on the field.
Harrison was strapped to a backboard and his facemask was cut off before he was placed on a stretcher. Not long after the second half started, Harrison returned to the sideline but did not play again.
“It looked scarier to everyone else than it really was at the time,” Harrison said. “Maybe the first couple of minutes, yeah, I was worried, but not after that.”
Harrison’s injury – it has been diagnosed as a stiff neck – came only a week after Bills tight end Kevin Everett seriously injured his spinal cord during a helmet-to-helmet hit against Denver. It was initially believed Everett might be paralyzed, but doctors now expect him to walk again.
Harrison was hurt as he was moving in to make a tackle, only to be rammed into the back of nose tackle Casey Hampton. Harrison knew quickly that he wasn’t seriously hurt, but almost no one else in the stadium did.
“I said, `I’m feeling better, it just feels a little loose,”’ he said. “As soon as I said that it was, `Don’t move, we’re strapping you up.’ I think they overreacted with the thing that happened with the guy last week. I think they didn’t want to take any chances.”
At the time, Harrison was angry that he wasn’t allowed back into the game, but doctors said they couldn’t allow him to play before reviewing his test results. When Harrison returned to the bench, one of the first things he did was look for his helmet.
“That was a good move by them but, where I was standing at the time, I didn’t like the move they made,” Harrison said.
Harrison went through a regular practice Wednesday and expects to play Sunday against San Francisco. Harrison is starting for the first time in his four NFL seasons, replacing former Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter.
Porter was released in a salary cap move in March and is now with Miami. The Steelers did not sign anyone to replace him.
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