Well, Peyton Manning made it through last night's encounter with the Bears with his body - if not his dignity - intact, so it's time to give a brief rundown of the key injuries suffered around the league, and their impact on their teams:
Tom Brady
The New England QB was placed on IR this morning, officially ending his 2008 season. The extent of Brady's injury is still unknown, exept that it requires surgery and is clearly a tear of some kind of knee ligament. It's easy to say that it's his ACL, but until the Pats confirm it, specualtion as to Brady's status next season is useless. On the other hand, we'll attempt it anyway, because that's how we roll.
Someone asked me earlier today if Brady could return and play at his pre-injury level. The simple answer, for any pocket QB of Brady's ilk, is yes. Unlike Daunte Culpepper - who's knee injury completely undermined his style of play - Brady does not rely on his mobility a great deal. It's not an ideal situation, but his athleticism has never been his strong point, so in essence, his main obstacle to overcome will be regaining trust in the knee.
The Pats will stick with Matt Cassel this week. If he struggles, expect the team to intensify efforts to bring in a veteran backup. Further to our report on the matter last night, Former Buc Chris Simms has indeed been brought in for a workout, along with career backup Tim Rattay. Simms's addition would signify genuine competition at the position, and as a proven commodity, it's unlikely that the fans in Boston would be enamoured with the idea of Simms merely being Cassel's backup.
Vince Young
There is some debate in the media today as to whether Young's 'injury' was somehow a result of his reluctance to take the field during the Titans win against Jacksonville on Sunday. From a neutral perspective, it certainly did not seem that Young was eager to get back into the game following his second interception in the game, and the fact that coach Jeff Fisher clearly was unaware of Young's 'injury' is extroadinary. Young claims to have felt tightness from his hamstring, just minutes before Jags linebacker Daryl Smith caught Young accidentally on the knee, at which point he was replaced by Kerry Collins. The team has since called the injury a 'sprained MCL', and said that Young will miss 2-4 weeks.
Could the Titans be covering for Young's clear psychological issues, by using a 'sham' injury to give him a few weeks to sort out his head? It's a possibility. Fisher could not have done a worse job covering up the sideline spat after the game, and his assertion that it was a simple 'communication issue' is laughable. The coach of an NFL franchise was unaware that his Star Quarterback was injured, even slightly? That's straight out of the 'Mike Nolan School of Quarterback Health'.
Whatever happens regarding Young, it seems that Collins is now back as starter for the next few weeks. He's been a relatibvely reliable backup when replacing Young over the last few years, and it wouldn't surprise us if a few veterans (Kevin Mawae, for one) are secretly relieved to play with a Quarterback who has already famously beaten his personal demons.
Brodie Croyle
Croyle is likely to miss at least two weeks after suffering a shoulder injury during the same Chiefs-Patriots matchup that caused so much uproar around the league. Unfortunately for Croyle, this latest injury could spell the end of his tenure as starter in Kansas City. Despite the lack of serious competition from within the Chiefs' current roster, Croyle's durability is so suspect that it is inevitable that the team will look to go in another direction now that the decision has been taken ouut of their hands.
Damon Huard should start, and if he can have a solid two weeks, it's hard to see Croyle regaining the starting gig this season. For all that Croyle has in that rocket arm, his inability to stay healthy will likely mean his days as a Starter in the NFL are over.
Marion Barber
Barber left the game in Cleveland with 'bruised ribs', and will likely start next week's Monday Night game against the Eagles. His loss would be a sore blow to the Cowboys, but as it is working out, this could simply make it easier to get rookie Felix Jones more involved after his explosive performance on Sunday.
It's unlikely that Barber will miss any time with the injury, though he will likely be in some discomfort for a few days. Don't be shocked if he misses practice at least once this week, but all sources - including the man himself - say that he will start week two.
Dallas Clark
The Colts TE left the game against the Bears last night with a knee injury and did not return in pads. An MRI on Monday indicated that Clark will be 'ok' according to coach Tony Dungy, but we've seen this before with a guy who rarely goes a full season without some kind of injury. It would be no surprise to see Clark sit out week two, and if he does, the Colts will revert back to the 3 WR formations that had mixed results last night.
On another note, Peyton Manning's injury has affected him, regardless of what John Madden and Al Michaels say. He looked stiff when throwing, and seemed lacking in confidence where his mechanics were concerned. The conservative playcalling of Tom Moore seemed to frustrate Manning, but even when given the chance to cut loose, he looked far from the Quarterback that has dominated the league for so long. No matter what spin the team have put on recent events, it is clear that Manning needs at least 2-3 more weeks of rehab before he returns to his old self.
Monday 8 September 2008
Peyton Manning's Injury
Call it a hunch - and it really is nothing more than that - but after watching Peyton Manning for the first quarter against Chicago tonight, we'd not be surprised if he didn't finish this game without aggravating his knee injury.
Manning doesn't look comfortable at all, and even Al Michaels and John Madden commented that in the ninety minuted before kickoff, he seemed unsure of himself.
As we say, just a hunch, and it would hardly be a shock of epic proportions, but it would complete a wild day for the favourites in the AFC, with Tom Brady injured, and the Chargers and Jaguars losing against opposition they would hope to beat.
Manning doesn't look comfortable at all, and even Al Michaels and John Madden commented that in the ninety minuted before kickoff, he seemed unsure of himself.
As we say, just a hunch, and it would hardly be a shock of epic proportions, but it would complete a wild day for the favourites in the AFC, with Tom Brady injured, and the Chargers and Jaguars losing against opposition they would hope to beat.
Tom Brady Out For Season With Torn ACL
If you're a Patriots fan, you may want to look away now.
Tom Brady is expected to miss the entire 2008 Season following an ACL tear to his left knee, according to Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports. The report is not a huge surprise given Brady's inability to even return to the sidelines following his departure from the field during the team's 10-17 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday.
Any injury to Brady has to be considered the worst case scenario for the Pats, though they will be cheered by backup Matt Cassel's performance in leading the team to victory over the Chiefs after a mediocre preseason in which he was lucky to hold onto the backup job. It remains to be seen if the team will bring in an experienced backup. Would Daunte Culpepper consider 'un-retiring' for the Pats? Is Chris Simms an upgrade over Cassel?
One person who may look on with some chagrin will be Jets QB Brett Favre, who turned down the option that the Packers offered him of waiting until the beginning of the season for just such an eventuality. The Packers preferred that option, but Favre wanted to end the media circus that regarded his future.
Of course, he couldn't have known that it would come to arguably the league's best player, on a team that could easily fulfil his ambitions of playing in the superbowl and with WR Randy Moss, but even so, we imagine that at some point, Favre will be asked the question by someone in the media of whether he regrets not waiting. We'll be waiting with interest for his answer.
In the meantime, the AFC title race just blew wide open. The Jets and Bills must feel better about their own playoff chances, but realistically, the Colts and Chargers will hope to capitalise on any downturn in results that the Patriots have. Of course, one thing that strikes us is this: If Cassel can get the job done to a reasonable level, the Patriots are still at the very least playoff contenders, by virtue of having a better overall team than their divisional rivals. On the other hand if Cassel shows an inability to take care of the football, it won't matter how good the rest of the team is.
The whole issue has so many permeatations that anything written is just pure speculation at this point. Realistically, our first indication of how the Patriots feel about Cassel will likely be who they bring in as a backup. If Culpepper or another veteran who can still play is brought in, then it's an indication that they'd like a competition of sorts. If they brought in Vinny Testaverde however, you'd have to feel that they were simply insuring themselves against an injury to Cassel.
Finally, one point: The AFC East has seen so much Quarterback upheaval over the last year, that it's amazing we didn't see this coming. The Bills replaced J.P. Losman with Trent Edwards, the Jets shipped Chad Pennington to Miami to make room for Favre, and now Tom Brady will miss his first substantial time with injury since his first season as starter in 2001.
Yeah, it's going to be an interesting year, no doubt...
Tom Brady is expected to miss the entire 2008 Season following an ACL tear to his left knee, according to Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports. The report is not a huge surprise given Brady's inability to even return to the sidelines following his departure from the field during the team's 10-17 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday.
Any injury to Brady has to be considered the worst case scenario for the Pats, though they will be cheered by backup Matt Cassel's performance in leading the team to victory over the Chiefs after a mediocre preseason in which he was lucky to hold onto the backup job. It remains to be seen if the team will bring in an experienced backup. Would Daunte Culpepper consider 'un-retiring' for the Pats? Is Chris Simms an upgrade over Cassel?
One person who may look on with some chagrin will be Jets QB Brett Favre, who turned down the option that the Packers offered him of waiting until the beginning of the season for just such an eventuality. The Packers preferred that option, but Favre wanted to end the media circus that regarded his future.
Of course, he couldn't have known that it would come to arguably the league's best player, on a team that could easily fulfil his ambitions of playing in the superbowl and with WR Randy Moss, but even so, we imagine that at some point, Favre will be asked the question by someone in the media of whether he regrets not waiting. We'll be waiting with interest for his answer.
In the meantime, the AFC title race just blew wide open. The Jets and Bills must feel better about their own playoff chances, but realistically, the Colts and Chargers will hope to capitalise on any downturn in results that the Patriots have. Of course, one thing that strikes us is this: If Cassel can get the job done to a reasonable level, the Patriots are still at the very least playoff contenders, by virtue of having a better overall team than their divisional rivals. On the other hand if Cassel shows an inability to take care of the football, it won't matter how good the rest of the team is.
The whole issue has so many permeatations that anything written is just pure speculation at this point. Realistically, our first indication of how the Patriots feel about Cassel will likely be who they bring in as a backup. If Culpepper or another veteran who can still play is brought in, then it's an indication that they'd like a competition of sorts. If they brought in Vinny Testaverde however, you'd have to feel that they were simply insuring themselves against an injury to Cassel.
Finally, one point: The AFC East has seen so much Quarterback upheaval over the last year, that it's amazing we didn't see this coming. The Bills replaced J.P. Losman with Trent Edwards, the Jets shipped Chad Pennington to Miami to make room for Favre, and now Tom Brady will miss his first substantial time with injury since his first season as starter in 2001.
Yeah, it's going to be an interesting year, no doubt...
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