Objective Determine days missed, games missed, and return to game participation the week following concussion among National Football League (NFL) players.

Design Retrospective cohort study.

Setting NFL current athletes.

Participants Concussed NFL players participating in regular season (RS) games from 2015–2019.

Assessment of Risk Factors Descriptive observational study; stratification variables include player position, timing in season, team game schedule.

Outcome Measures Games and days missed due to concussion; number and proportion of game concussions and subsequent return to participation (RTP) within the structure of the NFL team schedule.

Main Results In the 2019 season, NFL players concussed in RS games missed a median of 9 days (mean=14.4). 46% did not miss a game post-concussion, 39% missed one game, and 15% missed two or more. These statistics were relatively stable over the study period but varied slightly by position. From 2015–2019, 194 players concussed on a Sunday/Monday participated in the following Sunday game (38% with this schedule). From 2017–2019, no player with a diagnosed concussion from a Sunday game competed if his team played the following Thursday, an improvement from prior years.

Conclusions Median time missed by NFL players concussed in RS games is 9 days and approximately a third of players participate in games the week following a concussion. It is rare for NFL players to play in a Thursday game after sustaining a concussion on Sunday. Further work is needed to distinguish the characteristics of concussions that result in RTP within a week and those that take longer.