Russell Gage, wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, went down after being hit on his neck against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday. The two sides locked horns in the playoff game at the Raymond James Stadium.
Cowboys and Bucs gathered around Gage as he was down with pain. The WR was carted off the field.
Tampa Bay writer Scott Smith tweeted that the team’s head coach Todd Bowles said ‘Russell Gage has been taken to the hospital. He has a concussion and is being checked for a neck injury. Had movement in his extremities’.
Several social media users said that Gage going down took them to the Damar Hamlin incident.
“These moments get scary after the Damar Hamlin injury now Russell Gage unable to get up after the hit with an apparent neck injury. Prayers 🙏,” a Twitter user said.
“Hate to see this for any player. And these moments definitely hit different after Damar Hamlin. Hope Russell Gage is okay,” another one added.
“Praying for Russell Gage from the #Bucs after what happened with Hamlin feeling much more sensitive to these scenes,” a third one said.
On January 2, Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle. Teammates were in tears while he was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Cincinnati. Hamlin has made a remarkable recovery and watched the Bills beat the Dolphins in an AFC wild-card game from home.
Gage was injured when he stumbled on a route, went to the ground, couldn’t make the catch and took a hard shot to the neck from Donovan Wilson. He appeared to try to get up but couldn’t and slammed his hand into the ground in frustration. The team did not provide any immediate detail on his injury.
Players from both teams took a knee and prayed while medical personnel attended to Gage. Tom Brady, who threw the pass to Gage, stood near the medical staff before the game resumed.
