Casey Toohill recently announced his retirement after a six-year NFL career and the defensive end admits to playing with a certain amount of “existential dread" when it came to the pounding his brain took during years of competitive football. "We have these clinical trials happening — we’re making progress,” said Toohill, now an advocate for former players with head injuries. Toohill became a member last month of the advisory board of the Concussion & CTE Foundation, which is joining with Emory University School of Medicine to start a clinical trial on whether an FDA-approved medication called baricitinib that reduces inflammation can improve depression and cognitive symptoms in former football players.

Former Washington Commanders defensive end Casey Toohill announced his retirement from the NFL on Instagram Thursday, closing out a six-year professional career that began as a seventh-round pick out of Stanford. The reaction from around the league came quickly.

PITTSBURGH — With T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig both dealing with injuries and missing practice on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers […] This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Host Four Veteran Edge Rushers for Tryouts