Chargers tight end Donald Parham will likely be released from the hospital on Friday, the team said, after he suffered a concussion in Thursday’s home game against the Chiefs. Parham was “resting comfortably, alert,” the Chargers said.
“You know can’t nothing hold a real one down!” Parham said Friday on social media. “But I appreciate all the love and support from everyone…it means so much to me and my family to know so many people are thinking about me and my well being! … Just know I’m coming back better than before!”
Parham left Thursday’s game on a stretcher after suffering the injury in the first quarter and was taken to UCLA Harbor Medical Center for further evaluation. He was undergoing tests, imaging and evaluation for a head injury and in stable condition Thursday night, the team said.
On Friday, Chargers coach Brandon Staley said Parham’s mother arrived in Los Angeles that morning and has joined her son at the hospital. Staley added that he has not talked to Parham directly yet but hopes to later Friday.
“It was encouraging news throughout the night,” Staley said.
Replays during Thursday night’s game showed Parham’s head slamming to the turf after catching a pass in the back of the end zone. He lost control of the ball after his head made contact with the ground, and replays appeared to show him unconscious, laying on the turf with his eyes closed and his arms in a frozen position away from his body.
The injury came on a fourth-and-goal play at the Kansas City 5-yard line on the game’s opening drive. No Chiefs player made contact with Parham on the play. Medical personnel removed Parham’s facemask. Replays showed him moving his left hand, squeezing the arm of a trainer.
Parham, 24, is a second-year player who has 20 catches for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
The Chiefs won the game in overtime, 34-28.
(Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
