The NFL says players were diagnosed with concussions 281 times during the 2017 season - a new high since the league began tracking concussions consistently and sharing the data in 2012.
The total, which includes the preseason and regular season, eclipses the previous high of 275 in 2015.
"Certainly, we're disappointed that the concussion numbers are up," said Dr Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, on Friday.
"It is something which challenges us now to roll up our sleeves and work hard to see that number go down.
"We take this as a challenge, because we're not going to be satisfied until we drive that number much lower."
Concussions suffered during practices were an area of focus for the NFL.
There were 45 concussions in preseason practices and 11 in regular-season practices, both new record totals.
"That drove our attention after a couple of years where those preseason practice concussions decreased," said Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of health and safety initiatives.
"This is an important aspect of the work we'll be doing between now and the combine, and not just with the medical experts, but obviously how practices are run at the club level.
"It is something under the control of the coaches, the general managers and others, who are on site."
Alluded to during the discussion was whether the increase in concussions was due to a bump in self-reporting by players.
While concussions are up, statistics regarding ACL and MCL knee ligament injuries remained similar to numbers in 2016.
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