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Crosby on sitting out: “I just want to be smart with this”

Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby spoke with pittsburghpenguins.com today, addressing the headache he suffered after Wednesday’s practice and why he’s sitting out tonight’s game against Philadelphia and Saturday’s tilt against the New York Islanders.

“I just want to be smart with this,” Crosby said. “It’s been a long road back and we want to err on the side of caution.

“I’ve taken some good hits over the past few weeks and am happy with the way my body responded … but after discussing things with doctors it was better to make sure I was cautious before returning to play.”

People were keen to hear from Crosby following Dan Bylsma’s morning presser, in which the coach first revealed news about the headache. If there’s an encouraging side of the story, it’s that neither coach nor player (nor GM, Ray Shero) sounded overly concerned with this development -- in fact, their precautionary reactions could signify a culture shift in concussion treatment.

Remember, one of the major criticisms of Crosby’s initial injury was returning to the game in which he was believed to be concussed (the 2011 Winter Classic) and then playing in Pittsburgh’s next game (against Tampa Bay.) What we’re seeing now is much more patience and caution being exercised, two things that weren’t always exercised in the past.