As the summer draws to a close and the sunlight fades earlier and earlier, the crack of helmets and the sounds of pads smacking one another become all too familiar to our ears once again.
The NFL preseason is a time of excitement and wonder, especially for die hard fans. Its the first time we get to see the newest crop of rookies and star free-agent acquisitions, as well as the hometown favorites.
We all know the games don’t mean much of anything record wise and its more so a fine tuning of things to come in September, but for the coaches, it is a time of gut wrenching decisions on playing time.More often than not, even for one or two series, star players fall to long term, or even season ending, injuries.
Orlando Scandrick, Jordy Nelson, and Maurkice Pouncey are just a few of the names that have gone down due to injury in just the second week of the preseason.
With two games left on the schedule, and the third game being the longest the starting unit will see action, I expect more players to be added to the long list of players who have fallen to the injury bug.
For example, since 2013 the Dallas Cowboys have had 52 players on (IR) injured reserve, the most in the league. After they lost star defensive back Orlando Scandrick to a torn ACL/MCL, the Cowboys have taken a major blow to their secondary and will be scrambling to look for a viable replacement.
Some players and coaches alike feel like the preseason is too long, and they hate the fact that they put marquee players out on the field for meaningless snaps. After Pro Bowl wide receiver Jordy Nelson went down to a season ending knee injury, Aaron Rodgers spoke out and said that the league should cut it down to at least a couple of games.
I would assume that Rodgers is not the only player to feel this way. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid often said that he “hates” preseason, and believes it is far too long.
So how do we keep the integrity of the game and not hurt the product all while not continuing to hurt players at an alarming rate?
While football is a contact sport and injuries are apart of the game, there is not much one can do to fully prevent injuries besides saying a quick prayer before the game. I for one believe that maybe the NFL should look at reducing the amount of preseason football games, possibly limiting the schedule to just two. Four is far too many, and it seems players are dropping every other snap.
Robert Griffin III, who was completely obliterated by the Detroit Lions defense earlier in the preseason, fell to a bad shoulder injury and a concussion, and was taken out of the game. Fans and some sceptics are saying that coach Gruden should’ve removed RG3 earlier in the game, and maybe he would be in better shape at this point.
For players like Griffin , who missed most of last season due to injury, the snaps they get in live games are a refresher for a player who has not been in an in game situation for months at a time.
Only time will tell if the Players Association takes a real long look at this and starts to draw some attention to an ongoing problem. Players and coaches alike seem to agree that the preseason is doing more harm than good in the long run.
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