Figuring Out Injuries
October 21st, 2016
Injuries happen in football.
Just on paper, it seems like the Bucs have been ravaged by injuries in only five games.
Vincent Jackson, Gerald McCoy, Doug Martin, Robert Ayers, Charles Sims, Clinton McDonald, Jacquies Smith… the Bucs seem like a M*A*S*H ward.
So the subject of what is causing so many injuries came up yesterday to Bucs coach Dirk Koetter and he didn’t seem to think the Florida heat was the root cause.
“We’ve actually been doing a lot of studying on that with our training staff and our strength staff,” Koetter said. “You’re always trying to figure out what’s the cause of soft tissue injuries and when I talk to other coaches around the league, there’s so many theories about teams that do, teams that don’t. We’re working on it. We’ve got a database of stuff on all these injuries, but I’m not exactly sure on why.”
Joe understands Bucs fans are going wild about the team’s training and medical staff. For Joe, without seeing specific injury data of every NFL team, calling out the medical staff of the team is a too-easy, lazy target.
Injuries are all over the NFL. Hell, the Packers are using wideouts as running backs they are so decimated. The Steelers are always fighting injuries. Joe doesn’t remember the last time Ben Roethlisberger played a full 16-game season. Joe can’t remember fans of those teams singling out their team’s training and medical staffs as being a bunch of quacks.
Football is a physical game. Players get hurt. No matter what Roger Goodell and the owners try to do to this game, short of turning the NFL into flag football, there will always be injuries, and often a lot of injuries.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:13 am
stop gambling on players with significant injury histories. GMC, Martin, Ayeres, Sims, McDonald, Stocker and Jaq Smith all miss games REGULARLY this is not a surprise it should have been prepared for. Martin only runs hard on pay days and GMC is just soft and mentally weak. I’ll give the other guys the benefit of the doubt of bad luck but it still does not matter the team should have prepared for this. it is not shocking or surprising all these players are missing time. I must admit, even I was surprised 2 of the fragile 3 at DT could not make it past week 4 but again no surprises. When you have a lot injury prone players at key positions you live in the basement.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:15 am
Climate change is for real, but it still is not not a good excuse. NFL football is a very aggressive, violent sport. It used to be more of an actual skills game, but now it’s just turning into a war games video. Talk about boring…….yawnnnnnn. 🙂
October 21st, 2016 at 10:21 am
climate change… LOL… Hilarious… Nice to see Orlbucfan with jokes this morning…
Soft ass players, country club practices and training camps mandated by a Wussified Collective Bargaining Agreement is why the increase in injuries and the players turning into wimps. The game has changed too much…. Thank you to all the dirtbag Lawyers for ruining anything fun in America.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:22 am
I am still alive in my Eliminator pool and I am taking the Bucs this weekend. #Confidence
October 21st, 2016 at 10:24 am
SB with Jameis
that’s a bold move. Anytime the bucs are favored or fans in general think we should win this or that game. I run for cover. lol
October 21st, 2016 at 10:26 am
It’s not the medical staff’s fault. It’s this idiot Jason Licht’s fault.
Knowing how thin we are at several positions he refused spend any money on Free Agents and when he did it was a guy with a back injury.
I guess if 13 gets hurt Kenny Bell and Dontae Dye can be our receivers.
SMH
October 21st, 2016 at 10:29 am
@tmaxcon
There’s probably some truth that more injuries happen because of less practice time, but at the same time players back in the day used to work regular jobs in the offseason, so not sure how much water that really holds. These guys work out year round to stay in shape. If anything, it might be the fact that they don’t rest enough. It’s the same theory as how all these baseball pitchers nowadays have Tommy John surgery. They aren’t playing other sports, so they are overworking the same muscles, ligaments, and tendons. In my opinion the biggest factor is the fact that these guys are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before. People that big, fast, and strong aren’t made to do what they are required to do in football. It’s kind of like how so many big men in the NBA have health problems as they get older.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:30 am
I am certainly not suggesting that I know the answer, however there are certain “Seems Like,” issues that spring to mind. Players in my opinion are bigger, faster, and better conditioned today than in the past. While the NFL has tried to make the game safer with rules and modification to equipment still the players are out-pacing these efforts. Take Doug Martin for example. they don’t call him the muscle hamster for nothing. However he has no body fat to cushion the blows he receives from bigger, faster, highly conditioned athletes. When 300+ pound lineman can turn sub 5 40’s and some 250+ pound DB’s are world class sprinters something has to give. Another factor is players used to play hurt. Tape it and take two aspirin and get back into the game. Concussion protocol used to be a joke. when things stop spinning get back in the game. Finally substitution packages are common today. Fresh legs, rush specialist, jumbo packages. When was the last time we substituted our starting QB. I totally agree with Joe, football is a physical game and if we want to maintain it in a form less the Flag FB, there will be many injuries.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:36 am
@Capt. Blighe,
First of all, there is no way Licht knew about Sweezy’s back. Absolutely no way in hell. These guys have to have physicals before anything, so obviously nothing was detected. In that regard, if anyone should be blamed it would be the medical staff.
Second, it takes a while to build depth, especially if you are trying to achieve depth through free agency. It’s difficult to acquire backup players at decent prices, because there’s always a team willing to pay more and give them starter money. Problem for us is we have been so talent-depleted that we are still trying to achieve talent from our starters. You can’t really worry about the backups when the starters can’t play. Why get a backup safety when the starting safeties can’t play? There’s not enough money to get a roster full of starters in a couple years. It just doesn’t work that way. When that’s the case, every single bad draft pick gets compounded, because a team like us really can’t afford mistakes. If New England whiffs on a 3rd or 4th round pick, they are still a great team. If we do the same thing, we are screwed. It’s going to take some time. Many of us kept trying to tell everyone that we weren’t a playoff team, with depth being the biggest reason. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:37 am
@tmaxcon: you are a joke! I agree with the commenters. Pro football players are big dudes playing a war game. Injuries will happen, just basic physics and common sense.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:46 am
Lol Tmax. I know it is a bold move. Most people are picking Buffalo as the favorite. I have a different strategy though. I pick the weaker teams first part of the yr when the matchup is favorable. I have already gotten wins from Miami, Washington, Baltimore and Jacksonville. If I can get the Bucs in before the halfway point I still have all the Good teams to choose from later in the yr.
GO BUCS
October 21st, 2016 at 10:47 am
orlbucfan and hawaiian
please explain why it’s the same players who get hurt over and over again yet we continue to make excuses for them. Add up how many games the bucs stars from the past missed and keep in mind they actually played physical defense unlike these bucs… 55, 99, 47, 20 all missed a lot less time than the current bucs. Sorry but it’s the same list of characters hurt every year which blows out all the theories since it does not pertain to the majority of the roster.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:48 am
SB with Jameis
I have already gotten wins from Miami, Washington, Baltimore and Jacksonville.
WOW… Nicely Played sir…
October 21st, 2016 at 11:04 am
Flag football? We’d still have lots of injuries. Human bodies are not made to withstand fast acceleration, stops and turns while going full speed, and other movements world class athletes perform, even in practice. Yes, a violent sport will create more injuries, but that doesn’t explain all injuries. Heck, even baseball players pull hamstrings running to first base. When I played sports the guys with soft tissue damage were usually the best athletes on the team. Slugs like me were safe from most, except collisions.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:10 am
Fans have been requesting it for years…the Bucs need a proper indoor training facility.
The heat down here is horrible. What was it? Around twenty players needed IV Fluids in the last home game? That’s horrible!
Climate change is certainly real…I’m no tree hugger, but anyone can see winters are coming later and later here in Florida, for example.
I could go on and on, but this isn’t the place for it.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:11 am
Bigger rosters would help, so players can rotate in and out more often.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:12 am
When I played football I never once suffered and injury. I mean, my thumb got sore working the controls sometimes, but those old Tiger Games were tough!
October 21st, 2016 at 11:24 am
I’m not even going to read any of these comments lol. I’m sure they are a bunch of medical experts
Every team has injuries. Every team has a bunch of players with prior injury history. Get over it. If you think you know something special about how to prepare an NFL team to not get injured then you probably have a concussion and need to be evaluated
October 21st, 2016 at 11:30 am
Kirwan was talking about this the other day.. I think he said there are over 240 guys on IR already around the league. This isnt a Buc issue.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:54 am
No it is not a bucs issue. it’s a league wide problem easily traced back to the CBA. Players are not as physically or mentally prepared for game day violence. Everyone knows the risks of playing physical sports or participating in extreme activities it’s a choice you want to make the big money you take a calculated risk. it’s nothing more than that however the attorneys get involved and now it’s a feeding frenzy. Not only has it impacted the league and players financially it has taken away from a great game. It goes back to personal choices and responsibility and not one wants to accept responsibility for their own choices. the wussification of america continues.
October 21st, 2016 at 12:09 pm
Lord C, beautiful ending, “then you probably have a concussion and need to be evaluated”
October 21st, 2016 at 12:52 pm
Tmaxcon are u a Bucs fan or a Bucs hater?
Such a negative whiner. Just saying.
On the bright side, if the Bucs can win a few games with their depth players, they should be looking pretty good in a couple weeks time.
October 21st, 2016 at 1:22 pm
Every one of these guys has a history of injuries. Just like ASJ has a history of being lazy, drunk and stupid. But we still wasted a 2nd round pick on him. The thing that Jason Licht don’t understand about free agency, is that teams don’t let their solid, stable, injury free players walk. They only let the trash, garbage, injury prone players walk.
October 21st, 2016 at 2:19 pm
I think the NFL should expand active and PC rosters by 20%, extend the draft by a few rounds and extend the season 2 game eliminating two preseason games. They can require that individual players can only play 16 games, resting 2. All the particulars are subject to adjustment but something to this effect I think would help the game deal with a lot of the problems like injuries without diluting the quality.
October 21st, 2016 at 2:49 pm
@Bonzai- I suffered an orbital injury after hurling a controller at a nearby pillow, only to have it deflected at my head! I was under concussion protocol until I bought a new controller!!!
Tmax has a point. When you compare 55, 47, 99, and 20 it isn’t even fair. I don’t know if those guys were doing yoga or pilates or what but we do have a revolving door of injury-prone players. I would advise our current players to shadow those HOF’ers and see what it is that they did.
October 21st, 2016 at 3:09 pm
How come other teams..many teams..can win with key injuries to their RB, QB and WR? But the Bucs Cannot? Any excuse to remain in the cellar where its nice and cozy. I picked us to beat SF. But Don’t be surprised if that 1-5 teams bites the Bucs in their A..’es! You guys wonder why old heads like me are so critical of my Bucs? Try having been with them since inception. I’ve heard all the excuses and Spins. All except…Lets develop this mean a.. attitude and strat knockin some GD heads off on the field. We kinda look as soft a Charmin. Where is our Nasty. This is Football right?
October 21st, 2016 at 3:37 pm
Many of us have been around since inception but don’t fell the need to bring it up in every post or use it as an excuse for negativity.
I thought won our last game against the Panthers despite the injuries?
October 21st, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Amen, Mike Johnson! This is freaking football! Rub some dirt on it and go knock someone’s block off already!!!
October 21st, 2016 at 6:51 pm
Stainedlass..man,, you don’t bring it up because You were a twinkle in your moms eye when the Bucs started. You had not yet wiggled your sorry A.. into the uterus yet!