Foxboro 'Flu Watch

[SlowGettingUp]

So it's getting near the time for Foxboro 'flu to break out. The new rules make this a much better option than in prior years - if I understand this correctly, you no longer have to initially tag the player as "designated to return" and you can also bring two players back instead of one. W

NFL approves rule to allow 2 players to return from injured reserve

So in prior years this was a pure red-shirt move. Now it is potentially a "wait and see" move that can add to depth later in the year. So one could even argue a "one of each" strategy where you IR a bottom-of-the-roster player in each category - a spare TE, WR, DE, etc. ith the logjam on the roster there is certainly pressure to do this.

So who might be the likely candidates? It of course helps if they have actually suffered and injury of some sort. Hollister, Richards and Travis seem plausible candidates who have recent injuries, but Brissett would actually make a lot of sense strategically.

Edit: It's been claimed that you have to be on the final roster before you can be eligible for return. If that is correct, some of my post is simply wrong.

 

[DarrylS]

I think the whole idea of "designated to return" is stupid, imo everyone should be able to return.. for example a player has a severe high ankle sprain in the first gam, put him on the DL until he is ready to play again and move a practice player in his absence.. why tie up a roster space for however long it takes for the high ankle sprain to heal??

Some teams get "injury bugs" early in the season, why penalize them by leaving them shorthanded for the season..

But then again I believe that all 53 players should dress for every game and be ready to play if needed.. they are getting paid good money to sit on the bench, it would add another layer of strategy to NFL game planning.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

But then again I believe that all 53 players should dress for every game and be ready to play if needed..

It's actually a health and safety issue. Right now there is sometimes tremendous pressure (not necessarily from the coaches) for a player injured during the game to suck it up and keep playing.

Of course you could reasonably argue that the present rules benefit the Pats because they tend to have players that are more flexible and can play multiple roles.

 

[patchick]

So in prior years this was a pure red-shirt move.

It was? Can you give an example?

 

[WaterfallJumper]

It was? Can you give an example?

Yeah, I'm not sure I can think of anyone who received the "stash for a year and then still make the team and contribute meaningfully" treatment.

 

[patchick]

Yeah, I'm not sure I can think of anyone who received the "stache for a year and then still make the team and contribute meaningfully" treatment.

I ask every year, and nobody has ever come up with a single one.

As for the new rules changing that, it all depends on real injuries. Those IR return spots are incredibly valuable.

 

[maineman209]

Some teams get "injury bugs" early in the season, why penalize them by leaving them shorthanded for the season..

This seems, at first glance, to be something that could further progress toward the league's holy rail of parity. Of course, they'd also have to find some way of preventing the Pats from using it in order for that to actually work.

 

[Ring 6]

I ask every year, and nobody has ever come up with a single one.

As for the new rules changing that, it all depends on real injuries. Those IR return spots are incredibly valuable.

Foxboro flu = fake news

 

[maineman209]

I ask every year, and nobody has ever come up with a single one.

As for the new rules changing that, it all depends on real injuries. Those IR return spots are incredibly valuable.

As I understand it, the rules are that those spots must be used on players who are already on the final 53.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

It was? Can you give an example?

Trey Flowers.

Him being inactive for the majority of the Patriots' games this season was more the result of depth at the position and not a health issue. Therefore, it comes as a little surprise to see the Patriots place the defender on injured reserve today. Apparently, he has caught the "Foxboro Flu".​

Patriots Place DE Flowers on IR, Claim RB Williams

 

[SlowGettingUp]

As I understand it, the rules are that those spots must be used on players who are already on the final 53.

Ah - that would certainly change the dynamic and undermine this idea.

 

[Family]

The closest I can come to a Foxboro flu candidate is Darryl Roberts a few years ago. His injury wasn't that bad.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Trey Flowers.

But he wasn't specifically IR'd with an eye toward hiding him from the league because we had depth at the position. He legitimately had an injury.

 

[patchick]

Trey Flowers.

Him being inactive for the majority of the Patriots' games this season was more the result of depth at the position and not a health issue. Therefore, it comes as a little surprise to see the Patriots place the defender on injured reserve today. Apparently, he has caught the "Foxboro Flu".​

Patriots Place DE Flowers on IR, Claim RB Williams

Regardless of whether you believe in Flowers' injury*, he was placed on IR in December. Not even close to a bubble player "stashed" for a "redshirt year" on cutdown day.

(*With due respect to that PatsPulpit writer, Flowers had been off to a promising start before he was injured against Green Bay, after sacking Aaron Rodgers. He kept showing up on the injury report and had trouble getting back on track after that. IMO the Foxboro Flu diagnosis was unfounded.)

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

yes, it's a myth that keeps getting recycled.

Remember a couple of years back when the sprinter / running back Jeff Demps was hurt in the preseason? It was supposed to be a brilliant stash, get the guy on IR and then have him LEARN how to play the game, devour the playbook, and next year make the most of all of that speed.

Of course, though, he was really hurt! He was in fact on crutches for months, then when healed he was off the team (traded to Tampa for LeGarrette Blount!) . He bounced around in Tampa and got some other NFL tryouts, but seemingly never dedicated himself to football like he had to track.

It is true that sometimes marginal guys get IR-ed for things that they could come back from, if given a month or two, but they are simply on the wrong side of the cost-benefit analysis for carrying an injured player rather than being some "stash for the future".

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Regardless of whether you believe in Flowers' injury*, he was placed on IR in December. Not even close to a bubble player "stashed" for a "redshirt year" on cutdown day.

(*With due respect to that PatsPulpit writer, Flowers had been off to a promising start before he was injured against Green Bay, after sacking Aaron Rodgers. He kept showing up on the injury report and had trouble getting back on track after that. IMO the Foxboro Flu diagnosis was unfounded.)

He got injured in the first pre-season game and played (with that injury) in a couple more. Obviously hard for an outsider to tell, but I have to suspect that the depth at the position played at least a part in his IR designation.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

It is true that sometimes marginal guys get IR-ed for things that they could come back from, if given a month or two, but they are simply on the wrong side of the cost-benefit analysis for carrying an injured player rather than being some "stash for the future".

But they are IR-ed rather than cut. So that gives the Pats an option on them for the next year.

 

[patchick]

But they are IR-ed rather than cut. So that gives the Pats an option on them for the next year.

Not to belabor the obvious, but cutting a dinged-up player isn't an option. Even if you know they'd heal up in a week, you're contractually obligated to use IR. As with the Demps example, we've sometimes seen IR interpreted as "stashing" when the reality is the player would have been flat-out cut if he'd passed his physical. (Anybody remember Oscar Lua back in the day?)

 

[Deus Irae]

Not to belabor the obvious, but cutting a dinged-up player isn't an option. Even if you know they'd heal up in a week, you're contractually obligated to use IR.

That is not correct. Or, rather, it's not a complete explanation. Players can be given injury settlements and cut.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

But they are IR-ed rather than cut. So that gives the Pats an option on them for the next year.

If you are cut and are injured, you are "cut with an injury designation"

That allows you to be claimed on waivers, but that rarely happens. If unclaimed, you go to IR and get paid, unless you reach a buyout agreement (which likely indicates that you think you can get paid more, and not wait until next year).

You could argue that players that don't accept a buyout are convinced that they have a future with that team and can benefit from being "stashed", but this still seems more myth than reality.