A wild end to the Cowboys-Commanders game turned very serious in the closing seconds.
Washington running back Austin Ekeler suffered a concussion and was taken to a local hospital after he was hit hard by the Cowboys’ Nick Vigil and Damone Clark while returning a kickoff with nine seconds left in Dallas’ 34-26 win at Northwest Stadium on Sunday.
Commanders medical personnel rushed onto the field after the play to attend to Ekeler, who appeared to be out cold after the hit and was down on the field for a while.
The Fox broadcast called it a scary situation as they stepped away for a commercial, not showing Ekeler.
Cowboys and Commanders players all stood around on the field as the veteran was being attended to.
The Commanders said Ekeler was taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution.
On the play, Ekeler had a full head of steam running straight ahead. Clark came in on Ekeler’s left and laid a heavy hit high that you could hear on the broadcast.
Vigil brought him down by the legs.
No penalty was called on the play.
Ekeler, who eventually got to his feet and walked off the field once the broadcast returned, was in that position because the Commanders botched the snap and hold on an extra point that would have tied the score at 27-all, but Austin Seibert sent it wide left with 21 seconds left.
The Cowboys’ Juanyeh Thomas returned an onside kick 43 yards for a touchdown to put Dallas up prior to the kickoff where Ekeler was injured.