Eagles DT Patterson has seizure; alert at hospital
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - Patterson dropped to the ground between plays during a morning practice, and the player began violently shaking...
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson was alert, stable and joking at a hospital after suffering a seizure at training camp at Lehigh University, trainer Rick Burkholder said Wednesday.
Patterson dropped to the ground between plays during a morning practice, and the player began violently shaking. He was immediately tended to by Burkholder and his staff, with assistance from rookie offensive lineman Danny Watkins, a trained firefighter.
Burkholder said the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Patterson was undergoing further tests at Lehigh Valley Hospital.
WATCH NBC SPORTS COVERAGE OF PATTERSON’S COLLAPSE:
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“He’s absolutely alert, stable, totally communicating with everybody, even joking a little bit,” Burkholder said. “We won’t speculate what happened to him, other than he had a seizure. It could be anything. We don’t even want to speculate what might have happened.”
Burkholder said the seizure lasted about four minutes. He said Patterson did lose consciousness at one point as he was on the ground.
As players kneeled nearby, holding hands and praying, an ambulance arrived and Patterson was placed on a stretcher and lifted into the ambulance.
Practice resumed after about 15 minutes.
Patterson, 28, was the Eagles’ first-round pick out of USC in 2005. He’s started 84 games and played in 95, the most of anybody on the current roster.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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