Devin McCourty injury: high ankle sprain, expected back for playoffs

[Fencer]

McCourty injury

Reiss' latest: High ankle sprain, expected back for the playoffs. While it's not Reiss' personal reporting, that sounds fairly credible.

Patriots safety Devin McCourty sidelined by a high-ankle sprain

 

[VectorPrime]

Does anyone know the ranges of severity for a high ankle sprain? 4 weeks seems like a decent amount of time to recover but then again I think that if Gronk had 4 weeks instead of 2 prior to the Super Bowl it barely would have made a difference. He needed surgery after the season after all.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Its supposed to be a mild one, they can come in under 4 weeks too. 5 weeks from injury to game (assuming bye) he should be fine.

 

[letekro]

That Gronk injury was pretty gruesome. I don't think we have any indication that McCourty suffered such a severe injury to his ankle. No reason to think he won't be back healthy a month from now.

 

[oldrover]

"Put me in Coach!!! I'm ready to play!!!"

 

[Gumby]

Was hoping for quicker. But not that they take risk with him.

He will be missed vs jesters. Titans meh.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Jests game will be tougher to win without him.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

We need to root for pittsburgh on sunday. It allows us to drop a game without any problems

 

[CISGS]

We need to root for pittsburgh on sunday. It allows us to drop a game without any problems

I am rooting for Pittsburgh to miss the playoffs.


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[PatriotsPimp136]

I am rooting for Pittsburgh to miss the playoffs.


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It's still possible. You think the browns and the ravens would love to ruin their season. I think the steelers are beatable. Their secondary's awful.

 

[supafly]

It's still possible. You think the browns and the ravens would love to ruin their season. I think the steelers are beatable. Their secondary's awful.

While they've definitely been giving up yardage between the 20s, their bend but don't break approach has proven to be rather effective. Consider the following:

1) They are holding teams to FGs and lower scoring affairs, currently coming in as the 11th ranked scoring defense.

2) They are 6th in interceptions caused, which is obviously helping their effort. As we saw a few years back, getting turnovers can help to offset the yardage allowed between the 20s.

3) They are on pace for almost 50 sacks this season, and currently hold down a top 5 spot in this category.

4) They are only giving up 88 yards per game on the ground.

It would seem that the best way to beat them would be to take advantage of the shorter passing game, and not turning the ball over (obviously). I think those 2 aspects help our case, much more than the average team. Any type of semi-effective running game to give proper balance, while also keeping Brady upright and Roethlisberger off the field is certainly welcome.

 

[VectorPrime]

If we can hope that the Browns beat the Steelers then why on Earth should we be scared of them?

 

[supafly]

Their secondary's awful.

Just taking this a step further, here is Football Outsiders comparison's between our secondary and theirs, in terms of assignments. You'll see that we tend to cover the opposition's WR1 much better than Pittsburgh does, while they make up that ground on us in terms of covering WR3s. Everything else is fairly even, although our secondary has obviously proven to be more effective as a whole.

Yards Allowed in Every Matchup

WR1

NE--63.7 (7th in the league--very effective coverage vs. the opposition's #1)
PIT-86.9 (27th in the league--this is their biggest area of struggle and one that we should exploit)


WR2

NE--58.6
PIT-68.6


WR3

NE--64.7 (horrible, 26th ranked in the league)
PIT-36.5 (top 5--where they lost vs WR1, they certainly make up vs WR3)


TE

NE--45.1
PIT-60.0


RB

NE--40.3
PIT-39.8



FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2015 DEFENSE EFFICIENCY RATINGS

 

[supafly]

If we can hope that the Browns beat the Steelers then why on Earth should we be scared of them?

I guess hopes are high for Johnny Football after throwing that TD pass against the vaunted 49ers defense last week.

I don't think we should be "scared" of Pittsburgh or anyone for that matter, but when there's clearly problems with the other contenders in DEN/CIN, why would anyone NOT want to avoid Pittsburgh? They seem to be the only real threat. It's as simple as that, at least for me.

They have a big play experienced QB who leads the league in 40+ yard plays (19), an effective running game at 120.1 yards per game, a fairly reliable TE in Heath Miller, and a trio of WR targets which arguably includes the best in the entire NFL via Antonio Brown. Their defense has buckled down (11th in scoring), forced turnovers (6th in interceptions), caused a lot of sacks (5th), and limited the running game (88 ypg). To me, rooting against Pittsburgh seems to be the obvious choice, and it's not even that close. Who else is there to worry about?

 

[RobertWeathers]

Does anyone know the ranges of severity for a high ankle sprain? 4 weeks seems like a decent amount of time to recover but then again I think that if Gronk had 4 weeks instead of 2 prior to the Super Bowl it barely would have made a difference. He needed surgery after the season after all.

Because he needed surgery, I gotta think that was on the severe side.

Guessing DMC has a 1 or 2 and Gronk had a 3

Everything You Should Know About High Ankle Sprains

 

[ViperGTS]

Jests game will be tougher to win without him.

If the Jets would be tougher to beat without him, what does that say about the Jets realistically?

If the Jets make the playoffs watchout is all I'm saying. Part talent, part league corruption.

 

[turkeyneck]

They have a big play experienced QB who leads the league in 40+ yard plays (19), an effective running game at 120.1 yards per game, a fairly reliable TE in Heath Miller, and a trio of WR targets which arguably includes the best in the entire NFL via Antonio Brown. Their defense has buckled down (11th in scoring), forced turnovers (6th in interceptions), caused a lot of sacks (5th), and limited the running game (88 ypg).

Plus, Tomlin cheats and his team plays thugball. It's hard to come out of a Pittsburgh game without lingering injuries, major and minor.

 

[venecol]

Jesus, we took a beating against the Texans: Easley, Blount, DMC.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Just taking this a step further, here is Football Outsiders comparison's between our secondary and theirs, in terms of assignments. You'll see that we tend to cover the opposition's WR1 much better than Pittsburgh does, while they make up that ground on us in terms of covering WR3s. Everything else is fairly even, although our secondary has obviously proven to be more effective as a whole.

Yards Allowed in Every Matchup

WR1

NE--63.7 (7th in the league--very effective coverage vs. the opposition's #1)
PIT-86.9 (27th in the league--this is their biggest area of struggle and one that we should exploit)


WR2

NE--58.6
PIT-68.6


WR3

NE--64.7 (horrible, 26th ranked in the league)
PIT-36.5 (top 5--where they lost vs WR1, they certainly make up vs WR3)


TE

NE--45.1
PIT-60.0


RB

NE--40.3
PIT-39.8



FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2015 DEFENSE EFFICIENCY RATINGS

I think BB can live with a WR3 getting 64 yards if the Wr1, TE1, RB1 and Wr2 are being kept under control.

 

[Sicilian]

Jesus, we took a beating against the Texans: Easley, Blount, DMC.

Not to mention Freeny. He's not the greatest by any stretch, but with the injuries to Collins and Hightower, and the slow return to form for Mayo, imagine where'd we be without him. Thankfully the big three seem to be coming back very soon.