Injuries

It's difficult to say whether there are more injuries in football now than in years past. Players now are bigger and faster. The collisions are more explosive. Even with rules designed to curb it, football will always be a violent game. Players of many years past had a greater tendency to play through injuries. With the smaller rosters, they had to play. And smaller paychecks. They couldn't afford to give up their spot on the field. Even for a single down. We hear more about the injuries now. The media and fans demand that information. Coaches, even Bill Belichick, are expected to give up the "dope" on their injured players. It may be that demand for information that makes it seem like there are more injuries than ever before. A player tears up a knee in Charlotte and the news is splashed across the internet and mentioned every 10 minutes on NFL Network and ESPN. Everyone knows about the knee before the MRI is even scheduled. There are more specific injuries now. It used be a foot injury. Now, it's a lisfranc. About 20 years ago, Dan Marino tore his achilles tendon. I'd never heard of such an injury in football. I didn't even know that the achilles tendon could be torn. Foolish, of course. Any soft tissue can tear. And, bones break. I can't think of another player tearing an achilles tendon since Marino tore his. Until recently. There's been a run on the injury the past couple of years. Have players become too big, too strong for their bodies to support them? Who knows? The only certainty is that injuries will always be a part of football.

Nearly every NFL team was struck by injuries in the first week of training camps this past summer. Teams lost players for the entire 2014 season before a preseason game was even played. The Minnesota Vikings were one of the few teams that made it to the regular season intact. They had a few players miss practices. They even had some miss those vital preseason games. Those players were more hurt than injured. That has always been a somewhat funny distinction. If a football player is hurt, he plays. If he's injured, he doesn't play. Most of the Vikings players that missed practices and preseason games were more hurt than injured. They were muscle strains and pulls. Hamstrings and groins. Compared to the alternative, muscle strains and pulls are fairly tame. They still have to be dealt with carefully. Strains and pulls can linger. Sometimes for an entire season. The Vikings were healthy for the first game. They aren't healthy anymore. Against the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, the Vikings lost quarterback Matt Cassel and guard Brandon Fusco for the season. They also lost tight end Kyle Rudolph for as much as half of the season. Cassel broke bones in his foot. Fusco has a pectoral injury. No longer a chest injury. Rudolph needed to have surgery for a sports hernia on Tuesday. Linebacker Chad Greenway entered that game with a broken hand. He left that game with a broken rib. In football, it's always next man up. Injuries will always be a part of this game.The team that best deals with those injuries is often the team still standing at the end.