England full-back Mike Brown says he had to cope with some “low moments” while he recovered from concussion.Brown, 29, had headaches after being knocked out on Six Nations duty in February and did not play for his club Harlequins for the rest of last season.
He is now back in full training but says he had concerns about his future during his spell out of action.
“Obviously, as you go through the journey there are low moments,” Brown told BBC Sport.
Brown has been symptom-free for the past five weeks and is taking a full part in England’s World Cup training camp before the tournament on home soil which starts in September.
“You are only human so you have your doubts. But luckily I have good people around me who keep me positive,” he said.
“I’m proud of the club I play for and proud of representing my country and people around me kept reminding me of that when I had the low moments; I just kept thinking about the end goal.”
And while Brown, who was named player of the tournament in the 2014 Six Nations, says missing the end of the season with Harlequins was “hard to take”, he believes he had no other option but to be honest about his situation.
“It wasn’t too difficult because I knew what the consequences were and my head was telling me something for a reason,” he said.
“I think I’ve sent a good message. I think people are aware so much of [concussion] now and if I can miss an England against Ireland game and a quarter of the season with Quins because of it, I’m sure anyone else can.”
Brown will be part of the 45-man England squad travelling to Denver, Colorado, next week for a pre-World Cup camp, and he is confident he will not approach the physical contact in training with any trepidation.
“[It will be] the same as always I think. I love the physical side of the game, not just the pretty stuff, so I have no worries about getting into it again,” added Brown, who has 37 caps.
“That’s why I enjoy playing rugby, that’s why I took up rugby at a young age, because I love getting stuck in. It’s what makes me the player I am, so it’s just business as usual. Don’t overthink it – and that’s the way I will approach it.
“I just hoped that [the concussion symptoms] would clear at some point so I could get stuck into training and doing what I love to do. So it has done that now and I am back into it.”
