Concussion sidelines Raiders’ Nick Roach for season

Almost seven weeks after he left a preseason game with a concussion, Raiders linebacker Nick Roach had his season end Wednesday. The team made official what teammates had long suspected, and announced that Roach has been placed on injured reserve.

“It was a hard decision to make,” interim head coach Tony Sparano said Wednesday night. “But after consulting with our doctors and other doctors at this point in time, it was a decision that we needed to make, so we had to move on.”

Roach played every defensive snap in his first season with the Raiders in 2013, but missed all four games this season. He started going through the motions again at practice three weeks ago, and said he was feeling better two weeks ago in London. But he hasn’t passed the final level of the league's concussion protocol.

Then Roach was gone from the practice field when the team returned from its bye week Monday. Roach, who had said he had two or three concussions in the past, was not available for comment Wednesday.

http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/article/Concussion-sidelines-Raiders-Nick-Roach-for-5810818.php