In Depth: Doctor warns against playing too soon after head injuries

Football practice and training camps are right around the corner and the NFL just announced a new warning aimed at educating the pros about concussion risks.

Bay area doctors are making the message their own by educating young athletes on how dangerous it can be getting back in the game too soon after a head injury.

Trevor Sayers, 14, is spending part of his summer getting in shape for his favorite sport, baseball.

Sayers says he used to play football, but quit after an injury during which he blacked out last season.

"I threw an interception, so the runner was running down the sideline, I went to hit him and I dropped my head instead of my shoulder and it was a head to head collision," he said. "It was helmet to helmet."

Dr. Eric Coris, Director of Primary Care Sports Medicine at USF Health treated Sayers for a concussion.

"Athletes may have trouble sleeping because of the concussive symptoms," Coris said. "They may have personality symptoms, people who are normally very talkative suddenly get quiet, or the opposite, someone who's normally quiet gets talkative. Sometimes it's the softer signs that tend to get missed."

Coris says it's important that these athletes not hit the playing field too soon after a concussion because it could lead to a variety of risks.

"If they've had a bunch of concussions or sometimes if they're just uniquely susceptible, they can have something called post concussion syndrome, which is prolonged memory deficits, personality changes, chronic pain sometimes, headaches," said Coris. "It can be very disabling."

It took about 12 weeks for Sayers to completely recover from his concussion. And while he's fine now, the injury was enough to make him concentrate on something else.

"I stopped it," he said. "Now I focus on baseball."

Dr. Coris recommends athletes get a specialized evaluation before getting back in the game.