New York Jets

Jets LB Lorenzo Mauldin has concussion, not neck injury

Published Sep. 13, 2015 4:22 p.m. ET

foxsports

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Jets rookie linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin has a concussion -- no neck injury, as initially feared -- and will be hospitalized overnight for observation after being carted off the field in the team's season-opening win over the Cleveland Browns.

The Jets said Sunday night that Mauldin is awake and has feeling in his extremities. Tests at the hospital are complete on the third-round pick out of Louisville, who was injured in the fourth quarter of the Jets' 31-10 victory when Johnny Manziel was sacked by Muhammad Wilkerson.

Mauldin, who was originally credited with the sack, appeared to punch the ball out of the quarterback's hands and cause a fumble that Darrelle Revis recovered deep in Browns territory.

The linebacker stood after a few moments but then immediately dropped to the turf, where he stayed face-down as medical staff rushed to him.

"When I was running out on the field, I could see he was getting up but then I just saw him get weak and he fell again," Jets running back Chris Ivory said. "After that, it just looked like his eyes rolled into the back of his head."

As several Jets players stood and watched, some on a knee with their helmets in hand, Mauldin's facemask was removed and he was strapped to a board before being lifted onto a cart as MetLife Stadium fell completely silent.

"He had very little (movement) from what I saw," coach Todd Bowles said.

Several Browns players also came over to Mauldin as he was being examined on the field.

"I'm very concerned right now, not knowing anything," Bowles said after the game. "When a guy gets carted off, you worry about him until you can find out what happened."

Mauldin made headlines in the offseason when he broke down in happiness and cried during his conference call shortly after he was drafted by the Jets. He had a tumultuous childhood in which both of his parents served jail time, and he was in and out of about 12 or 13 foster homes in the Atlanta area.

"I'm here to say that I'm not a statistic," Mauldin said during the offseason, "and I'm going to overcome it."