What Is Michael Lombardi Getting At?
December 23rd, 2021
Hamstring issues.
Watching the “Apocolypse Before Christmas,” when the slimy Saints beat up the Bucs, the fact that both Playoff Lenny and Mike Evans went down with hamstring injuries raised Joe’s eyebrow.
You usually see hamstring injuries in training camp and early in the season when it is still hot. Dehydration often leads to hamstring pulls.
Was it really that warm Sunday night?
Well, interestingly, a guy who made a career working in NFL front offices for Bill Walsh, Al Davis and Bill Belicheat was thinking the same thing. But Michael Lombardi seemed to imply something darker is going on.
In his podcast “GM Shuffle” this week, Lombardi discussed briefly the hamstring injuries of Playoff Lenny and Evans.
“You lose Leonard Fournette to a hamstring,” Lombardi began. “It’s way too late in the season to lose guys to a hamstring. You lose Mike Evans to a hamstring. You know, what is going on off the field when you are having hamstrings? Like, I worry about that.”
Lombardi did not elaborate and quickly changed the subject. It almost sounded as if Lombardi was thinking something shady is going on away from One Buc Palace. That seems weird. Playoff Lenny is a good dude. And you will not find a better person than Evans. So Joe isn’t sure what Lombardi is getting at unless he was suggesting the two players aren’t eating right or drinking enough fluids.
(Evans, since Tom Brady showed up in town, has become a TB12-devoted kinda guy.)
And while Joe did think it was odd that the two hamstring injuries were coming in mid-December, it could just be a fluke.
Evans has a history of messing up his hamstring, even late in the season. Honestly, it’s a slight surprise Evans hasn’t had hamstring issues earlier.
Playoff Lenny? That was a violent hit he took when he suffered the injury and he landed awkwardly. Joe thinks Playoff Lenny’s hamstring had as much to do with the violence and landing than anything.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:05 am
I’d rather hear an explanation from an orthopedic surgeon.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:10 am
Players are getting hamstring injuries all over the league…..and, i suspect that Evans has been playing on a slight hamstring pull…..it has always been an issue for him.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:10 am
Lenny was evaluated and indeed has an injury that will take weeks to heal. Evans has a well documented history of hamstring issues so that one never surprises me. I think it was one of those days where when it rains it pours. Last year we navigated Covid and injuries exceptionally well. The Chiefs on the other hand lost two starting o-linemen by the time they made it to the SB. That’s the NFL….its not just about the better team, but often requires a degree of luck with injuries, matchups, calls, weather, etc.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:12 am
When I saw the Lenny hit, it looks like two people grabbed one ankle each and tried to make a wish. I figured it was a groin
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:12 am
I think he’s implying they are partying too much. That would dehydrate you and I believe has an adverse effectt to on ligament as well. So that makes sense, although Mike does rub you as the partying type.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:14 am
Joe is right about Fournette’s hamstring, that was a terrible way he landed after being helicoptered. He did a complete split.
Evans has always had issues with muscle injuries. His build is top heavy. Muscular waist up, legs are somewhat skinny looking for a man of his size.
Perhaps he isn’t doing enough in the weight room and flexibility exercises to avoid those injuries? Who knows but he’s been having them for years. Whenever he takes good lick, he gets up slowly. Conditioning could be an issue with him. Certainly not with Fournette, his legs are like tree stumps.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:14 am
All the Bucs need to do is get rid of their Walk-in Clinic Doctors and hire Robert Kraft’s massage lady & no more hammy or groin problems with this team ever
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:16 am
You know, that makes sense. It doesn’t make sense from Playoff Lenny and Mike Evans’ life away from One Buc Palace (Joe knows that Evans is pretty much a home body and Joe has been told by people who have run into Playoff Lenny out and about that he’s very lowkey more often found at top-shelf restaurants or maybe pumping gas than the clubs).
Lombardi always talks about how Tampa is one of the handful of NFL cities where it is hard to win because of the lifestyle. Lombardi always blames the strip clubs, like Indianapolis or New Jersey or Dallas or New Orleans doesn’t have strip clubs!
Good catch there Chris! Thanks.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:37 am
I mean to be fair….Evans does have hamstrings issues pop up around this time of the year.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:41 am
@ Joe
Dehydration is one of many reason hamstrings can show up….Pretty incomplete info by Mr Lombardi.
Seems to me that this is a tabloid kind of news, in order to creat a stupid debate….as most of so called experts/jourunalist so on this days…
Pure nonsense!!
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:47 am
Evans is a bit injury prone. He’s tough as all get out and makes up for his injuries with pure grit.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:48 am
Could it be lack of conditioning in practice? I said it before, a player cannot show up game day and expect to play the game at full speed with out emulating it in practice, it’s too much stress on their bodies. The speed these guys run and cut at is crazy fast. I doubt the party thing is real the team would have more covid issues.
December 23rd, 2021 at 9:56 am
It’s two days before Christmas! Hard to believe a team that won a Super Bowl last year (20 games) with the same coaching staff fully changed their conditioning habits that drastically. These guys have been practicing since July. Really difficult for Joe to connect dots that they are out of shape due to lack of conditioning.
If you want to hit Joe with their bodies have played too much football in the past calendar year, Joe is listening.
Really don’t think it is anything more than Evans’ documented history with hamstrings and Playoff Lenny absorbing a violent hit.
December 23rd, 2021 at 10:31 am
When you throw throw throw you put wear and tear on your most dangerous weapons, our receivers, including Lenny who’s been catching a heck of a lot more passes since the beginning of the season. We are built to run just as much as the pass yet we pass something like 70% on average? you can’t tell me that hasn’t had anything to do with our receivers injuries, being tired and taking a bad angle can do that too. I get Godwin got hit low, but he was looking pretty gassed by that time. The last 3 games i hope we play more balance ball, keep running when we have success and take the shots when they are there.
December 23rd, 2021 at 10:39 am
Evolving, then why aren’t the Chiefs, Bill’s, Charges, Rams & GB dealing with as many of these?
December 23rd, 2021 at 10:44 am
Lombardi…having long traded off his name…says some of the most random stuff ( admittedly some of it sticks…like a broken clock as the saying goes). The Saints were tackling with authority with a hint of cheap/dirtiness. I hope the Bucs see them again in the playoffs and unleash a fired up Red Jensen, Kong Suh, a healthier Devin White, Whitehead the missile…and maybe Kenny Britt for good measure.
December 23rd, 2021 at 11:07 am
As Mickey told Rocky, “Women weaken legs.”
December 23rd, 2021 at 11:13 am
We lost those guys because the saints hurt them on purpose. Payback for Winston
December 23rd, 2021 at 11:22 am
The whole season from game 1 has been nothing short of a disaster as far as injury. They did a good job masking it until the Saints came to town.
Not only did they embarrass us they beat us up severely. Knocked our best players out. Some for the year. Lord knows where they go from here.
December 23rd, 2021 at 12:06 pm
Nothing to see here about the players.
Training staff? They seem to create the pandemic of Hamvid 19.
December 23rd, 2021 at 12:21 pm
do you think in new orleans the haters are calling him “wishbone lenny” now?
i hope not
December 24th, 2021 at 2:19 am
Both Evans and Godwin were lost to hamstring injuries late in the season in 2019, Arians first year in Tampa. Coincidence?
December 24th, 2021 at 8:58 am
Been saying it for two years. I’d bet that the Bucs lead the league in hamstring injuries for two years now. A preventable injury which only requires discipline by players, trainers, coaches to perform and enforce. But the Buck stops with BA here IF pulled hamies are the REAL concern.