Gordon Hayward progresses through concussion protocol

Here’s the official update from the Celtics on Gordon Hayward’s injury:

After tonight’s game in Philadelphia, the Celtics have two night off before facing the Hornets. That will be a full week since Hayward left last Saturday’s matinee against the Hawks when he took a blindside shoulder from John Collins.

Hayward did work on a treadmill and will see doctors next. Per the NBA’s concussion protocol, Hayward must pass the following physical tests:

1. The return to participation protocol involves several steps of increasing exertion – from a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills.

2. With each step, a player must be symptom free to move to the next step. If a player is not symptom free after a step, he stops until he is symptom free and begins again at the previous step of the protocol (i.e., the last step he passed without any symptoms).

3. It’s important to note that there is no time frame to complete the protocol. Each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

For some context about what Hayward’s absence means for the Celtics, here’s NBC Sport’s Tom Haberstroh on Hayward, his growing aggressiveness as he recovers from last year’s ankle injury, and Boston’s Big Number:

At today’s shootaround, Jaylen Brown talked about Hayward’s impact on the floor:

“He opens up everything,” Brown said. “I think when Gordon plays well, we play with a good pace. He’s aggressive, we play with a good pace because he’s being aggressive. Just be aggressive, and we’ll be fine.”

“I think we try to get each other going,” Brown said. “Try to get each other going and stuff like that in the second unit. I think we know if the second unit plays well, we’ve got a good chance of winning the game.”