The rash of serious injuries: just bad luck or ... ?

Tunescribe said:

Below is the Pats' current IR list via Wiki (17). By contrast in our division, the Jets have eight on IR, the Bills have 12, the Dolphins have four. Elsewhere, Philly has eight, Carolina has eight, Arizona has 11, Seattle has 11, Denver has five, Indy has eight, Cincy has three ... Baltimore is the only team I've come across so far exceeding the Patriots, with 18 on IR.

• 25 Tarell Brown CB (IR)
• 86 A. J. Derby TE (IR)
• 46 James Develin FB (IR)
• 17 Aaron Dobson WR (IR)
• 99 Dominique Easley DT (IR)
• -- Dane Fletcher MLB (PUP)
• 98 Trey Flowers DE (IR)
• -- Tyler Gaffney RB (IR)
• 13 Brandon Gibson WR (IR)
• 59 Rufus Johnson DE (NF-Ill.)
• 94 Chris Jones DT (PUP)
• 33 Dion Lewis RB (IR)
• -- Darryl Roberts CB (IR)
• 77 Nate Solder T (IR)
• 84 Brian Tyms WR (IR)
• 62 Ryan Wendell G (IR)
• 29 LeGarrette Blount RB (IR)

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I'd forgotten all about Gibson, Gaffney and Derby, and I was pretty high on them post draft.

Tunescribe said:

I'm chalking it up to bad luck, but the question is bound to be asked: is there something organizationally/systemically going on (or not being done) in Foxboro contributing to the rash of injuries? I have no idea what it might or might not be, just tossing the idea out for discussion. In light of the Patriots' burgeoning M.A.S.H. unit, the remarkable example of an ever-healthy Tom Brady stands out. Tom's doing some unconventional stuff that appears to be working for him. Perhaps the whole team should be on his program.

Edit: playing into the post-season every year might be a cumulative factor coming home to roost. If so, how should a team compensate?

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We win Superbowls.

We simply have to have depth and pick up role players.

Fencer said:

The weird one to me is WR. Brady gets a lot of praise for not throwing his WRs into danger. Yet there's been an epidemic of injuries to his receiving weapons (WRs, Gronk, Lewis, previously Vereen).

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Well Brady cant anticipate if a guy's ankle is gonna get rolled or someone is gonna dive at the knee or their ACL is gonna tear. He can however put the ball where his guy isnt gonna take a huge hit to the head or chest.

I think the OP's contention was maybe playing all those playoff games every year end up taking a toll on the players and that playing 19 games versus the 16 for non-playoff teams increases the risk the following season a players don't have essentially an extra month to rest up. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing just expanding on what I believe he was trying to say...

I think other teams play harder against the Pats

With the Pats list, you obviously have players like Dion Lewis and Easley with injury histories who are more susceptible to injuries (I count 7 on the list with a history of major injuries). I would bet the farm Belichick hopes to get production from them, but factors in that they may not survive the season. It would be interesting to see what percentage of the NFL IR lists are encore performances or first-timers.

Add to that games on Thursday, reduced offseason conditioning due to CBA changes, and the addition of some freakishly big and fast characters, and the injury list isn't absurd. Watching a documentary of Lombardi on HBO, it is easy to forget how preseason workouts could be more intense than military basic training with the intent of beating everyone into shape before the season began. Leaving that to individual motivation, it is clear many do not do the level of work (I still believe Eddie Lacy's unimpressive body of work has something to do with a rounder body). Others do much more.

I believe you guys underestimate the effect of properly inflated balls. Offensive players having to carry around that extra weight are easily at more of an injury risk.

JetFan79 said:

I believe you guys underestimate the effect of properly inflated balls. Offensive players having to carry around that extra weight are easily at more of an injury risk.

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LOL and shut up.

JetFan79 said:

I believe you guys underestimate the effect of properly inflated balls. Offensive players having to carry around that extra weight are easily at more of an injury risk.

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Obviously, you missed it: New England's footballs were properly inflated all along.

IMHO, it's the following, in this order:

1. The fortunes of war in a violent game.
2. Fewer full-on practices. People don't get toughed up enough. Injuries are rampant throughout the league.
3. People play harder against the Pats (as someone else said).
4. Playing more games (as someone else also said... good grief, 'rover, can you have an original idea here???!? LOL). I mean, if there's a percentage chance per game of losing someone to injury, and you play more games than others, then it makes sense.
5...




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"I think..." says Jet fan...

10 million anthropologists rush for their video recorders and notebooks....

Tunescribe said:

Edit: playing into the post-season every year might be a cumulative factor coming home to roost. If so, how should a team compensate?

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Look at the list of players on IR

• 25 Tarell Brown CB (IR) *
• 86 A. J. Derby TE (IR) *
• 46 James Develin FB (IR)
• 17 Aaron Dobson WR (IR)
• 99 Dominique Easley DT (IR)
• -- Dane Fletcher MLB (PUP) *
• 98 Trey Flowers DE (IR) *
• -- Tyler Gaffney RB (IR) *
• 13 Brandon Gibson WR (IR) *
• 59 Rufus Johnson DE (NF-Ill.) *
• 94 Chris Jones DT (PUP)
• 33 Dion Lewis RB (IR) *
• -- Darryl Roberts CB (IR) *
• 77 Nate Solder T (IR)
• 84 Brian Tyms WR (IR)
• 62 Ryan Wendell G (IR)
• 29 LeGarrette Blount RB (IR)

9/17 didn't play for the Patriots last year. I think that puts a pretty big nail in that idea.

An early bye week didn't help, plus the lack of contact in training camp due to latest CBA isn't helping anyone across the league

Ever since 07, or maybe even before, most, if not all, teams really "bring it" when they play the Pats. This often results in a lot of stupid mistakes by the opponent, but these teams also seem to play with a lot more effort and physicality when they play the Pats. I suspect that this is probably the biggest factor in the Pat's tendency to have a lot of injuries compared to most teams.

This list seems to be pretty up to date. It has Easley listed as IR but not yet Blount.

Pro Football Reference Injury List

While the Patriots' injury list seem to be among the biggest, the Ravens, Giants and Redskins seem to be right there as well. I haven't gone team by team to look at the prominence and importance of the injured players though. There are just a lot of injuries to go around this season.

And now for something completely different: here's a little good luck:

Jim McBride ‏@globejimmcbride 1m1 minute ago

#Patriots receiver Julian Edelman looked crisp and quick during media portion of practice today.

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WATCH: Julian Edelman looks good in practice

JetFan79 said:

I believe you guys underestimate the effect of properly inflated balls. Offensive players having to carry around that extra weight are easily at more of an injury risk.

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"Properly inflated" balls weigh the same amount. The measures is pressure, not weight.

luuked said:

Ridiculous discussion. Every team has injured players, none of thrm seem to show any pattern of muscle injuries that stem from bad conditioning/strength so what is there to discuss?

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smg93 said:

Seems like there's a thread like this every year. It's a violent sport, every team has injuries.

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manxman2601 said:

As others have said, most teams are suffering much the same.

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slam said:

While the Patriots' injury list seem to be among the biggest, the Ravens, Giants and Redskins seem to be right there as well. I haven't gone team by team to look at the prominence and importance of the injured players though. There are just a lot of injuries to go around this season.

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Even a superficial look at the injuries for this year will see that the Pats a) lead the league in both IR and total games lost, and B) are far out ahead of any other winning team.

Has any team ever had every single starter on offense, except the QB, go on IR or miss significant time because of injuries?

The 2010 Packers had a similar number of guys on IR (many of them earlier in the season) and had defensive end suspended for drug possession.

2010 Green Bay Packers season - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Suspensions[edit]

• On July 16, The NFL indefinitely suspended DE Johnny Jolly due to his July 8, 2008 second-degree felony charge for possession of at least 200 grams ofcodeine. He would eventually be reinstated on February 27, 2013, and go on to play another season for the Packers.[16][17]

Training Camp and Preseason Injuries[edit]

• On Aug 5, WR Jeff Moturi was placed on injured reserve.
• On Aug 10, CB Josh Bell was placed on injured reserve.
• On Aug 31, S Atari Bigby, CB Al Harris and RB James Starks were all placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. RB Quinn Porter was placed on injured reserve.
• On Sep 4, T/G Allen Barbre and S Will Blackmon were placed on injured reserve

Regular season transactions

• On September 14, The Packers signed RB Dimitri Nance from the Atlanta Falcons practice squad and previously released DE Jarius Wynn. RB Ryan Grant and DE Justin Harrell were also placed on injured reserve.[19]
• On October 7, The Packers signed LB Maurice Simpkins to the active roster from the practice squad, LB Johnny Williams was signed to the practice squad and S Morgan Burnett was place on injured reserve due to a knee injury.[20]
• On October 13, The Packers signed LB Robert Francois to the active roster from the practice squad, S Derrick Martin was placed on injured reserve, S Michaell Greco and LB Mike Riverawere both signed to the practice squad and LB Johnny Williams was released from the practice squad.
• On October 15, The Packers signed DE Michael Montgomery and placed LB Nick Barnett on injured reserve with a wrist injury.[21]
• On October 18, The Packers traded a conditional draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft to theJacksonville Jaguars for former 2009 preseason Packers safety Anthony Smith. TE Jermichael Finley was also placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.
• On October 26, The Packers claimed LB Diyral Briggs off waivers from the Denver Broncos, signed free agent LB Matt Wilhelm, placed DE Mike Neal and LB Brady Poppinga on injured reserve and released LB Maurice Simpkins.
• On October 28, The Packers claimed NT Howard Green off waivers from the New York Jets and LB Brad Jones was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
• On November 12, The Packers signed TE Spencer Havner and placed T Mark Tauscher on injured reserve.
• On November 30, The Packers placed LB Brandon Chillar and TE Spencer Havner on injured reserve.
• On December 18, The Packers promoted QB Graham Harrell from the practice squad to the active roster and put S Anthony Smith on injured reserve.
• On December 21, The Packers signed G Adrian Battles[23] and S Michael Greco to the practice squad and WR Terrance Smith was placed on practice squad/injured reserve.
• On December 31, The Packers signed C/G Evan Dietrich-Smith to the active roster and placed T/G Marshall Newhouse on injured reserve.
• On January 20, The Packers signed WR Antonio Robinson to the practice squad and placed S Anthony Levine on practice squad/injured reserve.

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Fencer said:

Some thoughts:

• Every team has a lot of injuries. We notice Pats injuries more.
• Pats have more good players. Hence they have more good players get injured.
  
• Every team has cases where the guy seriously risks injury and cases where he's a bit protected. E.g., Brady didn't tackle as aggressively on an INT return as Dalton did.
  
• Pats gamble a bit on injury-prone players. E.g. Gronk, Easley, Terelle Brown, Dowling.

The weird one to me is WR. Brady gets a lot of praise for not throwing his WRs into danger. Yet there's been an epidemic of injuries to his receiving weapons (WRs, Gronk, Lewis, previously Vereen).

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One more, the Pats get every team's best shot since it is their Superbowl.