Facing an onslaught of potentially damaging PR, the National Football League has drafted its own game plan for dealing with the upcoming Sony film Concussion.

The league will host a series of discussions, conferences and scientific strategy meetings about player safety over the coming months in the run-up to Concussion's release Christmas Day. In fact, the NFL says it welcomes the Will Smith-led film's ability to spark dialogue on the subject, despite being portrayed as an organization that tried to conceal findings about the long-term effects of football-related head trauma.

"When something like this movie comes up and people want to talk about concussions or football or the future of the sport, that's an opportunity for us to engage," Jeff Miller, NFL senior vp health and safety policy, told The Hollywood Reporter. "We intend to do just that over the course of the movie and long after that."

Among the events planned are a convening of concussion experts at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that is being funded by a grant from the NFL Foundation (beginning Oct. 15) and the International Professional Sports Concussion Research Think Tank in London (Oct. 23-25).

The NFL isn't shirking from the media glare in the wake of Monday's Concussion trailer debut, which prompted major news coverage from networks and national outlets. Miller says the NFL will speak to any press outlet that wants to know about the health and safety questions in football and what the league is doing to reduce concussions. Perhaps more intriguing, the NFL would even entertain the prospect of working with Sony on raising awareness.