Wentz’s Injury

In another example of media and fans needing a reason to bitch and point fingers, the Minnesota Vikings and especially head coach Kevin O’Connell received a great deal of heat over the handling of injured quarterback Carson Wentz. The injury goes back to the Week 5 game against the Cleveland Browns in London. Just before the half, Wentz injured his left shoulder. The injury was significant enough that he had to leave the game and immediately head to the locker room. Backup Max Brosmer took the final snap of the first half. It felt as if it would not be the day’s final snap for Brosmer. With a separated shoulder, torn labrum, and a broken socket, Wentz returned in the second half and guided his team to a comeback win over the Browns. Even without the injury, it was an inspiring effort. Considering the injury, it was heroic. A separated shoulder, torn labrum, and broken socket sounds serious and is serious. It’s an injury that requires surgery to repair. It’s not a rest and rehab deal. Doctors, trainers, coaches, and Wentz, especially Wentz, decided that it was an injury with which he could play. It’s his non-throwing shoulder and he apparently couldn’t hurt it further. It was a pain deal and whether Wentz could deal with the pain and discomfort that was sure to come. The Week 6 bye did little more than give Wentz time to get used to the pain and discomfort. The injury wasn’t going to get better with rest. A physical game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7 didn’t help and a brutal game on a short week against the Los Angeles Chargers brought an end to Wentz’s season. Whether it’s truly the case, it’s easy to think that Wentz was intentionally carrying the team until J.J. McCarthy was healthy enough to return. If that goal and hope was hatched in the London locker room during halftime of the Browns, it’s a goal and hope Wentz managed to reach. Even though we all knew the severity of his injury, he was greatly criticized for his inconsistent play on the field the past two games. Once we all saw the pain he was experiencing during the brutal game against the Chargers, that criticism was redirected to another target. The heat directed at the team and O’Connell came from Wentz still being on the field in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the Chargers. It was apparently a much bigger deal than the blowout loss to the Chargers. 

The fired-up fans and media seemed to ignore the simple fact that Wentz wouldn’t have been on the field if he couldn’t handle the pain and if he didn’t want to be there. Ultimately, playing was his decision. Oh, the critics said that the coach should’ve taken better care of his player, should’ve been the voice of reason to the player’s desire to play. Where was the outrage when rookie guard Donovan Jackson played against the Cincinnati Bengals with a wrist injury from the week before? Team and player knew the injury would require surgery but he played that game. He had the surgery the day after he played against the Bengals. Is it less of a deal because Jackson is a guard and Wentz is the quarterback. Is it because we didn’t see Jackson’s pain splashed across television screens. Who knows? Players play with injuries all the time. Some of those injuries are significant. Some will require surgery. It’s not a normal deal for those that don’t play the game. It is a normal deal for those that do. Wentz said yesterday “I’m not an idiot. I knew what I was doing, going out there. Nobody was forcing me, pressuring me, any of those things.” He knew that his opportunities to play this game are closer to the end than the beginning. Whether for himself or for his team, the pain was less than his desire to play. Anyone that thinks that the Vikings or O’Connell forced Wentz to play is really just looking for a reason to bitch and point fingers. 

Through all of this puzzling outrage from the media and fans, I couldn’t help but think of all of the examples of the same critics romanticizing players that plow through the pain of injuries. Jack Youngblood playing with a broken leg. Emmitt Smith playing through a shoulder injury. This was an injury perhaps similar to that of Wentz and Smith had to use his somewhat useless arm. Ray Lewis playing with a torn triceps. Those three easily come to mind. Each instance of playing through pain might’ve helped each player reach Canton. It certainly didn’t hurt. I can’t recall criticism leveled on the coaches that “forced” each of those players on the field. Injuries will always be an unfortunate part of football. Even with the rules that are intended to make the game more safe, football is a brutal game. It always will be. Players will play with injuries and it’s no one’s fault that they do.