DarrylS

There seems to have been an increase in the number of people posting that the strength and conditioning coach is the problem of the injuries of this team. Mike Woicik has the most superbowl rings of any NFL coach, 6, and has been named S & C coach of the year '92 with Dallas and '04 with the Pats.

Pat Kirwin has a take on him and a few others who he calls unsung heroes.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9890931

Dec. 25, 2006) -- It's the holiday season and we are all supposed to take a little time to appreciate all we have and recognize those who go unnoticed all year long. What better time to apply the holiday season spirit to the Unsung Heroes and mention a group of men that absolutely go unnoticed all year long?

No NFL team would be without a strength and conditioning staff to handle the players on a year-round basis. These men are listed on the coaching staff, but they never coach a position or call a play. Think of them as the people who make playing the game possible.

A strength and conditioning coach doesn't have one position to worry about or one side of the ball to be responsible for. He has all 53 players, the practice squad and in many cases all of the players on injured reserve to worry about. The NFL motto is "your body is your business," and that makes the strength and conditioning coach your business manager....

Mike Woicik, New England Patriots. Woicik developed his reputation at Syracuse University before moving to pro football. After 16 quiet years in the NFL, it is time to shine the spotlight on a very important member of the Patriots. Whether it's keeping some of the older players up and running, or making a few guys faster, it can be said that New England has a competitive advantage with Woicik. He is assisted by Harold Nash.

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Mike the Brit

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They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

DarrylS

sorry I missed it

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"Stats are for losers. Final score is for winners." Billl Belichick

MDD

So what is to blame for the disproportionate number of player-games missed compared to other teams over the past 5 years? I refuse to believe dumb luck is the answer.

Likely candidates for the answer are:

1. Crappy field (which only covers half the games)

2. BB reluctance to play injured players, rationalizing that a guy off the bench at full strength is better than "starter x" at 70% - basically the oppostire approach BP employs.

3. Maybe Woicik isn't so hot after all.

I'm leaning toward #2 given Woicik's track record.

PatsWickedPissah

Puting on my tinfoil hat I will say that I have observed more than once that many players do not really stretch out properly in warmups. My wife who is into that stuff brought that to my attention in training camp. Notable EXCEPTIONS being guys like Harrison, who makes a science of stretching out.

But no strength coach can prevent bone breakages (Harrison, Seau) by conditioning or lifting. Once you have sufficient muscle mass to play NFL ball, extra won't help an impact with torsion.

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maverick4

MDD, I would say it's two things:
1. The Pats collectively as a group probably play with higher intensity on the field than other teams, which can result in more accidents from high speed events and collisions.
2. Belichick is extremely careful about injuries, and is not willing to play guys who are at 80% and could potentially hurt themselves more.

The second explanation makes a lot of sense, especially considering Belichick's preference for depth over stars. He probably figures he has good backups, and would rather play them than an above-average player who is semi-hurt.

MDD

If that is the case then it is interesting that given the conventional wisdom that BB "learned" from Parcells, he takes the exact opposite approach toward injured players.

Fanfrom1960

Too much Koolaid? If that were the case, wouldn't the Pats be knocking out more opposition players than any other team?

tedy hagler

I also thought it was curious that the Patriots secondary continues to get injured at a rate approaching a platoon on active duty in Afghanistan. One year is bad luck, two years very bad luck. Three years -- you start to wonder, even allowing for freakish things like Rodney's shoulder injury.

Maybe too much strength conditioning has led to less flexibility for some guys.

maverick4

Well, no, at least I don't think so.
It could be, for example, that our players are taught to fly to the ball, more so than other teams, so there are more bodies flying around in on tackles than other teams.

I think my second theory is more likely, but I also think the Pats incur more injuries than most teams, so there has to be an additional explanation on top of my second one.