Many more concussions are being reported in the NFL this season, which the league considers evidence that players and teams are taking head injuries more seriously.

According to NFL data obtained by The Associated Press, 154 concussions that happened in practices or games were reported from the start of the preseason through the eighth week of the 2010 regular season.

That is an increase of 21 percent over the 127 concussions through the eighth week of the 2009 season, and a 34 percent jump from the 115 reported over the same span in 2008.

Dr. Hunt Batjer of Northwestern University, co-chairman of the NFL’s head, neck and spine medical committee, called the numbers “a great sign.”

“Based on the opinions of the trainers and the team physicians and everyone we communicate with, it appears to be a cultural change,” Batjer said in an interview with the AP.

“We’re trying to make sure that players have the message: Playing through pain is good; playing through pain is what sports are about. But that’s leg pain. That’s arm pain. Not brain injury,” Batjer said. “Because a brain injury and spine injury can threaten their future.”

Concussions continue to be a hot-button issue for the league and its players. Batjer’s committee met for two days in New York last week to gather information about improving player safety and consider steps to take moving forward; the union’s traumatic brain injury committee is convening Monday and Tuesday in Washington.

And every week, it seems, key players miss time because of head injuries. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson and Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller, for example, sat out Sunday with concussions, while Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers left in the first half of Green Bay’s 7-3 loss to the Detroit Lions.

The NFL has been working to get across Batjer’s point about thinking of head injuries differently from other health problems, hoping that players will not only be more vigilant about reporting their own symptoms but also about keeping an eye out for teammates who might have a concussion.

Thirty of 160 NFL players surveyed by the AP in November 2009 replied that they have hidden or played down the effects of a concussion.

In December 2009, the NFL set up new rules for checking players on the sideline during a game to determine whether they have a concussion or can get back on the field. Last week, Batjer’s committee discussed adopting a league-wide exam so each team would perform the same tests on a player who might have a head injury.