Well, we found one person who still thinks denial is a river in Africa.
With Cincy:
2013 - Was on the injury report "Questionable" for only two games during his rookie season with a CALF STRAIN. Only active for one game that season.
2014 - Missed first four games with a KNEE INJURY. Played 133 ST snaps and 34 snaps at RB in nine games active after that - rushed 9 times for 27 ydd and a TD; caught 7 of 10 tgts for 49 yds.
2015 - Active for all 16 games, plus Cinci's playoff game. Did not miss a game. Did not appear on injury report. Played 73 offensive snaps and 299 ST snaps during the regular season.
2016 - Active for all 16 games, plus Cinci's playoff game. Did not miss a game. Did not appear on injury report. Played 238 offensive snaps and 209 ST snaps during the regular season.
With the Pats:
2017 - Appeared in two games for the Pats before missing four with a RIB INJURY. At that point, he had appeared in
FORTY-FIVE CONSECUTIVE GAMES and played nearly 1100 snaps (including post-season)
without even appearing on an injury report.
In the next 8 consecutive games after his return, he played 269 snaps between offense and ST. He rushed for about 250 yds on 60 carries, caught 26 of 29 tgts for over 200 receiving yards, and scored 7 TDs (5 rushing, 2 receiving).
He then missed the final two regular season games and the Divisional Round playoff game with a KNEE INJURY. In the SB, he ran for 18 yards on 3 carries, and caught his only passing target for a 46-yd gain.
2018 - Burkhead has yet to miss a game. He's played 59 snaps on offense and 35 snaps on ST.
He was in the CONCUSSION protocol during week-2 practices, but recovered enough for "Limited Participation" during the Thursday and Friday sessions and was, indeed, cleared by game time (
as I suggested he could be) and played against JAX.
This past Sunday, Burkhead played 7 snaps on offense and 11 snaps on ST before suffering a "NECK INJURY." We don't yet know what the consequences of that will be, although Barner being re-signed may be an indicator.
You seem to be trying to build a case against Burkhead alone for being unavailable due to a rash of "sh it happens in football" type inuries. If Burkhead's recent lack of durability and availablity gets your panties in such a twist, I strongly suggest you broaden the scope of your "investigation" to include some other players. Rowe, Hightower, Slater and Cannon and Gronk, for instance. Hill, Mitchell, Matthews ...
