Mitch Morse suffered a head injury in Week 6 against the New England Patriots. It’s now five weeks later and he’s not yet back at practice. What gives?

Concussions are a tricky thing and as Morse has had several throughout his career it can be even trickier to recover. Just last week Andy Reid reported that Morse is still dealing with symptoms from the concussion.

Here’s a brief rundown of how the NFL’s return-to-participation protocol works following a player sustaining a concussion:

Step 1: Rest and Recovery

This is a combination of physical and cognitive rest and recovery. During this time period really you want to avoid any strenuous activity that could potentially worsen symptoms. Recovery can take varying amounts of time depending on the severity of the concussion. With a combined decision between the player and medical staff, a neurologic examination is administered which includes both cognitive and balance tests. If they pass these tests they are cleared for the next step.

Step 2: Light aerobic exercise

This is what coaches would consider, “light work.” This includes things like cardio work on the bike or treadmill, stretching and balance training. If there is no recurrence of signs and symptoms of a concussion following this work, a player can be cleared for the next step of the protocol.

Step 3: Introduction to Strength Training

In this step a player increases aerobic activities to emulate that of NFL play. They also are able to resume training in the weight room. If there is no recurrence of signs and symptoms following this training, they’re cleared for the next step.

Step 4: Football activities

This step indicates a return to non-contact football activities. In Mitch Morse’s case that means he could practice snapping, stance work, and other position specific-activities. Without a recurrence of signs and symptoms players are cleared to resume full contact activities (i.e. practice).

Step 5: Full contact clearance

This would indicate a return to full contact. If a player is able to complete a full participation practice without recurrence of symptoms they’ll be cleared from the protocol and ready to play on gameday.

We don’t quite know where Morse is at with these steps, but his lack of participation at practice would suggest he’s still in Step 1 or Step 2. Ultimately he’ll have to make it through all these steps in order to be cleared from the concussion protocol. Each team has a different system for how quickly players can pass through these steps, but without a Thursday practice, Morse’s status for Monday Night Football against the Rams is certainly in doubt.