Trent Brown mishap focus of NFLPA investigation, reports say

An NFL Players Association investigation has been launched to look into a medical procedure in the locker room involving the Raiders offensive tackle Trent Brown before Sunday’s game against the Browns, several reports say.

It resulted in Brown missing the game and being hospitalized in Cleveland.

According to an NFL Network report, air entered Brown’s bloodstream when he was receiving an IV, which triggered the sudden trip to the hospital. Air bubbles that enter the brain, heart or lungs can cause a heart attack, stroke or respiratory failure, per Healthline.com.

Brown had been expected to return to the lineup on Sunday but was a late add to the inactive list.

Brown was released from the hospital Monday night, but remained in Cleveland overnight. The 27-year-old was unable to secure a flight and is expected to return to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and a representative of the NFLPA could not be reached for comment, and Brown was not available.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden confirmed earlier Monday his highest-paid offensive lineman stayed behind when the team flew home after the game.

“Very glad to report he’s up and seems to be doing well,” Gruden said. “We’re awaiting some of the results of some of the extensive tests that they did today and yesterday. I don’t have anything to report other than he had an issue.”

Gruden said he wanted to thank the Raiders medical staff. “What a job they did in an emergency situation. We’re just happy he’s up and around. Once we get the official word as to what is wrong with Trent, we’ll let you know.”

Quarterback Derek Carr on Sunday described what was a scary and confusing situation for him and his teammates as they watched Brown “wheeled out” of the locker room before the game.

“Honestly, I got a little scared for Trent,” Carr said. “I thought ‘Man, I hope he is OK.’ We had no clue what was happening. All of a sudden, we came in this morning and they are wheeling him out and I was trying to figure out what was going on. It was crazy. As a team, we prayed for him. We made sure he was OK and his family was OK because I am sure they were scared to death, too.”

The Raiders were able to put the incident behind them and earn a 16-6 victory in ugly weather conditions.

“I think the big thing is we were all shaken up pretty good,” Gruden said. “You get shook up when you see one of your own go down and you don’t know what’s wrong with him. We were able to assure our players that he was in good hands and his signs were vital and he was doing good. We said a prayer for Trent before the game and then we went out and tried to win the game for him. It’s something that’s on our mind, weighing heavily on us right now. We hope he’s OK.”

Gruden said it’s too early to talk about Brown’s playing status.

The right tackle missed nearly two full weeks of practice after a positive COVID-19 test last month. He returned Friday and was cleared to return against the Brown before the incident in the locker room took him out of commission for Sunday’s game.

“The most important thing is that we find out what went wrong.” Gruden said.

The Raiders play in Los Angeles against the Chargers on Sunday.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.