Geelong coach Chris Scott confirmed Tom Stewart was ruled out of Thursday's match against Fremantle on Tuesday, but failed to clarify when he entered concussion protocols.
Stewart copped a knock late in the Round 13 loss to Adelaide, but the Cats' injury report never revealed when he entered protocols, ultimately creating intrigue around the star's availability and the club's transparency.
Scott moved to deny anything sinister regarding the gun defender's head knock, simply saying he wasn't right to play earlier in the week.
"The concussion window is a bit of a furphy," Scott said following the nine-point loss to Fremantle.
"There's a guideline there, and you probably know about it more than I do because we take the approach of we don't want to get involved at all. I'm taking that view more and more when it comes to injury, full stop."
It's not the first time Geelong has been questioned over its reporting of player injuries, which Scott didn't take too kindly.
"I do, if I'm being really honest, take offence to getting questioned about players' personal injury status. I think not many people have to deal with that, and there's an element of it being private. And that's the approach we take internally as well," he continued.
"We are moving more to a model where we don't take much interest at all until the players are cleared to play.
"It was probably clear to us Tuesday afternoon that he wasn't playing, and we moved on. Literally, there's not another question after that.
"And I wouldn't ask anyway. What I'm happy to say is there hasn't been anything negative."
Jeremy Cameron's health continues to be a talking point after a measly performance (two goals and six touches) based on his loft standards.
Cameron's forearm is heavily bandaged following his broken arm in last year's grand final, and looks tentative in contested situations. He took his time getting up from a big hit from Dockers forward Patrick Voss.
Scott suggested it's not his arm giving him grief, but a grumbly hip issue that is the reason for his quieter outings.
"I did speak to him post-game, and he didn't mention it (his arm)," Scott said.
"We have a very conservative approach with these things. If that was really restricting him, or there was any potential for further damage, we wouldn't be playing him."
Geelong heads into the mid-season bye with a 9-6 record.
