BC Lions wide receiver Darius Passmore was recovering Friday night after injuring his throat when he crashed into sideline signage during the Lions and Calgary Stampeders game at Empire Field.
The six-foot-one, 188-pound rookie out of Marshall had to be taken off the field on a stretcher after trying to catch a Casey Printers pass against the Calgary Stampeders.
In stretching for the overthrown ball, his throat contacted the top corner of one of the signs that are folded into a triangle and line Empire Field.
"Everything should be fine," Lions coach Wally Buono said after the game. "He fell and I guess he jammed his throat with either a piece of wood or the sign."
Passmore was seen talking to concerned teammates as he sat on a training table in a room adjacent to the Lions' locker-room.
But the incident hushed the crowd of 25,127 as medical staff from both clubs hovered over him for several minutes while a stretcher was brought onto the field.
Passmore gave a thumbs-up sign as he was taken away for treatment.
Buono said doctors were concerned about bruising in the throat area that could hamper Passmore's breathing.
"The impact ... and they were concerned that maybe he fractured something," Buono said.
"If there was going to be swelling it would swell fairly quickly and it would definitely cause a big issue with breathing."
Buono said he didn't know whether the advertising signs surrounding the field constituted a safety issue.
