Head injury to Bucs receiver Russell Gage puts frightening end to forgettable loss

TAMPA — Bucs receiver Russell Gage was hospitalized after sustaining a fourth-quarter head injury that gave another frightening jolt to a league still shaken by the Damar

Hamlin incident two weeks earlier. Gage was injured with less than three minutes remaining, when he appeared to slip while trying to get to a short Tom Brady throw near the

Cowboys 5-yard line. As safety Donovan Wilson converged, his right forearm hit the right side of Gage’s helmet, bending his neck awkwardly. The fifth-year veteran remained

on the field for several minutes, as coaches and teammates hovered around him, before he was transported off the field via cart. “He has a concussion,” Bucs coach Todd

Bowles said immediately after the game. “They’ll also test him for potential neck injuries.” When asked if Gage had any movement in his extremities, Bowles replied, “His

fingers were moving when he was down there, I don’t know about the rest.” Bowles will meet with reporters early Tuesday afternoon and could provide an update on Gage at

that time. The incident came exactly two weeks after Hamlin — a Bills safety —had to be resuscitated on the field after collapsing following a tackle of Bengals receiver

Tee Higgins in a “Monday Night Football” game. He remained on a ventilator for several days but was discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center a week later.

“It’s hard to see your teammate down like that,” tight end Cameron Brate said. “We’re all thinking about him, praying about him. Not sure how he’s doing, but yeah, it’s

tough.”