Every New Orleans Saints fan has the same reaction when Chris Olave took a big hit from Will Johnson in Week 1. "Another concussion?" Though Olave returned to the game, that same apprehension will appear when he takes his next big hit.
It's football. Big hits are a part of the game, and will remain a part of the game despite the league's attempts to lessen them. Unfortunately for Olave, his history with concussions makes everybody nervous, including the New Orleans Saints.
Olave saw his 2024 season end after his second concussion of the year, and fourth of his career. After Olave went down after Johnson's hit, the Saints rushed Olave to the injury tent. Luckily, Olave just had the wind knocked out of him. Better safe than sorry. That was the Saints approach last week, and Olave expects that to be a constant throughout the season.
Chris Olave expects the Saints to be very cautious with him moving forward
"I feel like it’s going to be more than usual this year. I try to tell them I’m good, but they just try to check on me and make sure I’m straight," Olave told reporters. The receiver didn't feel like he needed to go to the tent, but the Saints did. "Every time they see me take big hit or something like that I feel like they take me to the tent automatically."
With Olave's history, it's hard to blame the team. They're properly cautious with him. No player would like being handled with such fragility, but it seems Olave understands.
Concussions will be tied to Olave until he goes a couple seasons without one. He hopes to limit the risk by changing his approach to run after the catch situationally. If there’s a ln opportunity to make a player or two miss, then he will. He’s trying to do a better job of getting down when there’s a lot of people around to avoid big hits, though. This one was just unavoidable.
Olave thinks it was the right read by Spencer Rattler. Johnson just made a quick break on the football. Olave is glad Johnson didn't hit him in the head while he wasn't looking. All that happened was Olave's breath was taken away. For the receiver, it did feel good to take a hit like that and get back up. We've seen that not be the case before.