Michigan will soon become the 42^nd state to have concussions laws on the books, but right now it has become home of topic for this week:

* Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best expected his concussions results Friday  and he could be practicing again soon, according to the Detroit Free Press. Best told CBSSports.com that is the poster boy for the NFL teams evaluating brain injuries.

“The situation I’m in with the way that concussions are being taken right now, it’s taking a long time (to be cleared for contact),” he said. “I guess I’m just kind of the poster boy for (the new concussion protocols), and I have to take it how it is.”

* Speaking of the Lions, there’s a debate raging in the Detroit locker room about whether wide receiver Calvin Johnson had a concussion two weeks ago against the Minnesota Vikings. Johnson said he had a concussion and Lions coach Jim Schwartz told CBSSports.com said that Johnson tested fine after the hit he took from Chad Greenway.

“Our evaluation was he was not concussed,” Schwartz said. “He was thoroughly checked. We were very strong in our evaluation. He was cleared to go back in the game, and he was on a protocol after that, and he was cleared then. We’re very strong in our evaluation, and as an organization, we have some credibility when it comes to concussions. So just leave it there.”

The Bleacher Report said if Johnson did play through a concussion, then it set a bad precedent for the league.

Johnson’s statement exposes that belief as a falsehood, at least in this particular instance. Speaking completely at his own free will, the Lions’ wideout made it abundantly clear he thought he was concussed, but still went back on the field of play.

“It’s a real challenge,” said Dr. Robert Baker, a family practitioner with Bronson Orthopedics & Sports Medicine — and who served as … team doctor at WMU. “There’s no specific training in this area.”

By comparison to a sprained ankle or broken bone, concussions don’t show up on MRIs, CT-scans, x-rays or other tests, which means a diagnosis is made on the basis of whether the patient exhibits one or more of two dozen symptoms, and recovery is tracked by those symptoms disappearing. The latter can be especially problematic when it relies on honest responses from a young athlete who may be unwilling to sit out too much of the sport’s season.

“Some primary-care doctors may have very good experience in this area, while some neurologists may not,” Baker said. “Nobody owns this diagnosis.”