Let me first get off my chest – who's idiotic idea was it to line up Josh Wilson on the line of scrimmage against Victor Cruz with less than 2 minutes less in the game and the game on the line? As soon as I saw that formation and Mr. Magoo (Mr. Madeiu) fumbling around the backfield I knew the game was all over even before the snap.
Now onto the main issue. The Redskins starting lineup is starting to look like it has served time in Iraq. What is it with all of these injuries?
LaRon Laundry said several weeks ago that the Redskin's medical staff is the worst he's seen and the coaches aren't much better when it comes to injuries. Given he is running around playing for the Jets without surgery (that the Redskins insisted upon), he may be onto something.
For anyone that has torn a pectoral or a rotator cuff, you know there is NO chance that part of the body will ever be the same again. It certainly takes a long time to get 98%. Enter Brian Orakpo and his pec tear the last week of last season. Many people were commenting "this is a more serious injury than the Redskins are treating as when the preseason started." Linebackers commented that Rak just wasn't the same in training camp. What do the coaches do? Throw him into preseason games! Idiotic at best, Rak is out, and if he returns to the game next year and thinks he can straight-arm tackle again, his career is over.
Consider Pierre Garcon. Shanahan said it was a matter of dealing with pain. Now after shoving him back into games way too early, he is out for an undisclosed period and needs just to rest. Didn't he need to just rest when he first got the injury? Apparently, the injury has compounded to a tendon or the original diagnosis was completely incorrect. Again, Redskins medical management and overall coaching staff gets an "F" on how Garcon has been managed.
Chase Minnifield – once they saw he looked good enough to play they should have sat him out of training camp – insisted he wear a brace – something. Every other team in the NFL passed on him because his knee injury was so serious. What do the Redskins do? Torch his knee again in training camp.
Next for literal Achilles heels (losing Laundry on this issue as well), is Roy Helu and Fred Davis. Does anybody warm up before a game over there? Don't they rub pounds of Tiger Balm on their Achilles tendons, feet, knees and ankles before a game? With billions of $ at stake, you would think the NFL has perfected some kind of stretching warm-up regimen.
On the plus side for the Redskins on this issue is the offensive line. They gave Kory Lichtensteiger lots of time to heal and kept him out of the preseason. It seems to have worked.
Injuries in football are inevitable. Patience, proper treatment, and proper prevention are coaching and staffing issues. Let's start with a simple suggestion – season ending injuries mean NO preseason play the next season PERIOD. Secondly, when Haslett starts packing his boxes after this season, let the medical and training staff go with him.
Editor's Note: Some good thoughts raised here. I vaguely recall that Mike Shanahan swapped out the medical and training staff when he arrived in 2010. Even then, there were whispers about the group.
The NFL fined the Redskins $20,000 for the description and reporting of Robert Griffin III's mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) in the Atlanta game. Washington handled the injury itself properly, but if words betray thought, perhaps something about the Redskins thinking about injury needs to be "shaken up."
Image Sources:
Former Redskins safety LaRon Landry, August 17, 2012 – Source: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images North America via zimbio.com.
Redskins receiver Pierre Garcon, September 29, 2012 – Source: Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images North America via zimbio.com.
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