NFL quickie concussion-check on horizon?

Is the NFL really trying to make its game safer and protect its players?

That’s the message the league seemed to be sending out at Thursday’s Health and Safety press conference at the Super Bowl media headquarters.

A couple of the innovations that were showcased, that might eventually show up on NFL football fields:

–A waffle-type cushion installed under artificial turf, to absorb shock and lessen trauma to bodies and heads. The cushioning doesn’t change the feel of the turf for the players and doesn’t affect cutting, running and jumping.

A rep of the Detroit company, Viconic, says the stuff is ready to roll and his company is talking to a few NFL teams, but no deals have been struck. The rep said fewer than 10 percent of synthetic-turf fields have any kind of cushioning.

–A brain-scan device that gives an instant read-out of various brain functions, providing the sideline doctor with a more measureable and definitive diagnosis of head trauma. Was Joe Quarterback concussed? Just check the read-out. Michael Singer of BrainScope says the device will be submitted soon for FDA approval and potentially could be available for use in the NFL next season. Is the league really charging into a new era of player safety? We’ll see.