On Monday’s “NFL Total Access,” Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson discussed teammate and running back Jahvid Best, who has not played in more than a season because of a concussion he suffered in 2011:

“I spoke to him last season. Jahvid could have easily been one of the best running backs to put on a Lions jersey …  He’s that type of player. The reason I’m talking in past tense is because he’s going through a different type of concussion. He didn’t have a ton of them, but the ones that he did have they were really powerful.”

“In conversing with him, he was able to tell me if he wasn’t sure he was going to decide to come back and play the game he loves so much — he’s so young — or if he’s going to decide to chalk it up.”

“And just being a guy that loves him as an individual vs. him, as a player, I just told him, ‘Honestly I’d rather see you healthy at 65 than healthy at 25,’ ” Burleson added.

“I just told him that if it was me I would shut it down. You’ve got so much more life to live, and even though I would love to have you on the field, I don’t want it to risk anything that has to do with your brain or possibly your post career.”

– NFL Evolution.com