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Surgical/trauma ICU nurse here:
From the video/replay, the most likely injury that would occur would be a compression fracture.
Depending on the severity, it could be a surgical emergency, or just a TSLO brace and no physical activity for a while. It all depends on how bad the vertebra is compressed and how much is left.
The "good" news is that if this is what happened, the odds of a complete cut of the cord is pretty slim when compared to other spinal injuries.
The reason why I think it is a compression fracture is because of how the tackle occured. He accidently led with his helmet which puts a downward force on the spine. If it was a lateral injury or high C spine injury, he wouldnt have been able to move at all, let alone be breathing. Since he hit with his head, the only really possible injury at that point if it isnt a high C spine injury, is a compression fracture lower down.
The spine can 'crumble' on itself and not damage the cord too significantly, unless it is severe. Spinal shock can occur, but in cases with compression fractures, usually resolves. How much you can return to baseline is on a case by case basis.
The kind of injuries you need to worry about in football are hyper extension injuries from being pushed over someone, or a lateral fracture from a hard hit from behind which causes the cord to be slice horizontally (and the high C-spine ones of course, but talking about T/L spine here mostly).
I didn't get a great look, but when they were carting him off the field I didn't notice a C-spine collar. I'm actually shocked they didn't do that, especially given the mechanism of injury and how he hit the other guy head first, hopefully there is nothing wrong with his C spine either that can manifest without proper C-spine precautions.
