The N.F.L. will require the athletic trainer in the press box to stay in contact with on-field doctors to help determine whether a player has a concussion.
The requirement, announced Wednesday, is an enhancement made to prevent confusion of the type that occurred in the season opener, when the Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton was allowed to return after being hit in the head.
Under the league’s concussion protocol, the N.F.L.’s athletic trainer was not allowed to call a medical timeout after being contacted by personnel on the field. In Newton’s case, the team physician and an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant asked the trainer for video of the hit, but a technology glitch delayed the video.