Michigan's Brady Hoke, Dave Brandon and Shane Morris

Michigan quarterback Shane Morris, left, took a hard hit against Minnesota last week and was later diagnosed with a "probable, mild concussion" according to AD Dave Brandon.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive.com)

ANN ARBOR — Given the Michigan athletic department's handling of Shane Morris' injury — now revealed as a "probable, mild concussion" — the question of protocol and how teams around the state handle head injuries is worth of examining, at all levels.

While Big Ten member schools such as Michigan and Michigan State are free to set their own policies, the NFL's is standardized across all 32 teams. And even at the high school level, there are certified doctors on the sidelines, on the lookout for all injuries.

"We have a team doctor, we have a certified athletic trainer, and they trump anything I say," said Chris Westfall, head football coach and athletic director at Ypsilanti Lincoln High School. "And if it’s a concussion, or a sprained ankle, anything, they tell me if a kid gets to go back into the game.

"We hold to that protocol religiously."

Michigan's practices have come into question this week after Morris took a hit to the head in the Wolverines' loss to Minnesota. He remained in the game, despite struggling to walk at times.

According to Michigan's concussion protocol — enacted in 2012 — any student-athlete who "exhibits signs or symptoms that raise a concern for concussion" should be removed from the game and undergo evaluation. The problem is Hoke and his staff said they didn't see the Morris hit.

At both the NFL and college level, players are given a pre-participation assessment, or a baseline test, a key component in identifying potential head trauma.

If you break your leg, there is an objective test — an X-ray — that can definitively say an injury occurred. But there is no such test for the brain. And because each brain functions differently, the only way to tell whether impairment has occurred is for each player to have established what their "normal" is, and then test against that.

NFL teams have their own trainers, and there also is a non-team affiliated medical official at every game as well. If one of those doctors suspects a player has sustained a possible head injury, that player is removed from the game and must undergo sideline testing.

The Detroit Lions diagnosed six known concussions last season, which was seventh most in the NFL. Running back Joique Bell had to exit Sunday's win over the New York Jets with an apparent head injury. Under league protocol, he's not even allowed to remain on the sideline and is not permitted to speak with reporters after the game.

Michigan State has a neurologist on its sideline during games, and team doctor Randy Pearson has done extensive research on concussions. Coach Mark Dantonio also sat through a three-and-a-half hour symposium in order to educate himself.

"We always start back having our people do light exercise and see how they handle that," Dantonio said in testing players for concussions. "

“That’s what we do, and we’ve sat numerous people because of it. That’s our policy and I think our doctors are as up as we can on it, but concussions, as you know, there is gray area in that because players want to continue to play too and sometimes they’re telling you they’re OK."

After the hit against Minnesota on Saturday, a limping Morris — he also had a sprained ankle — could be seen waving off the Michigan bench. The trouble, MSU's Dantonio says, is players can be reluctant to come out of the game.

“I think it’s difficult because you try to educate (players) but at the same time, having played college football, there are times when you hit somebody and you’re stunned a little bit," Dantonio said. "You’ve got to clear your head or whatever the case. Guys want to stay in and a lot of times they feel like they can stay in and sometimes quite frankly they don’t tell you."

Said Ypsilanti Lincoln's Westfall: "I can tell you with being in games, kids come over and say they’re fine and you have to make snap decisions all the time. If you took out every kid you thought got hit too hard, you’d never play."

Michigan's in-game handling of Morris' injury prompted an apology from athletic director Dave Brandon early Tuesday morning, in which he demanded sideline communication improve.

On Tuesday, the Big Ten office confirmed that commissioner Jim Delany has been in contact with the athletic department. In 2010, the league established a conference-wide concussion management policy that distributed to member institutions. Michigan enacted its formal policy in 2012.

— MLive.com reporters Kyle Meinke, Kyle Austin and Justin Hicks also contributed to this story